Oran Viriyincy, Flickr, Creative Commons.
READ MORE ABOUT:
A new report about transportation tells us some very interesting things about how some potential new "stimulus" money should be use to maximize the number of jobs created (and at the same time promote greener alternatives to cars):
"According to the report, written by University of Missouri-St. Louis researchers Todd Swanstrom, Will Winter, and Laura Wiedlocher, every dollar spent on funding transit creates more jobs than spending on roads. Specifically, each billion dollars spent on transit creates 36,108 jobs while the same figure can only buy 30,319 road jobs. That means that by reassigning some federal spending from roads to transit, Congress could boost employment without adding a cent to the deficit. [...] The report also shows how the feds could create even more jobs by making sure those transit dollars go to operating budgets rather than capital projects. A billion dollars in transit capital projects creates 23,788 jobs, the authors say, less than road funding. But spending a billion dollars on operations generates 41,140 jobs." (source)
What this means is that for the same money, the feds could create more jobs if they invest more in transit rather than simply in roads. And once you consider the added benefits, like lower air pollution, lower traffic congestion, etc, this seems even more worth it.
There's no doubt that many cities could use the transit stimulus, as the recession has hit them hard and many have had to cut services, raise fares, and fire people.
Via Streetsblog
More on Transportation
Variable Parking Pricing Cuts Congestion
Zipcar Goes to Harvard, Offers Car-Sharing to Under-21 Drivers
What's the Transit Score of Your City?
