The picture is the same everywhere you look. You’ve been reading it here, in your newspaper, or watching it on the television nearly nonstop for the last few weeks:
Gas is expensive, driving is down, transit systems are packed.
Here in D.C., people are abandoning their cars and taking Metro in record numbers to save money and get where they need to go reliably each day. They can count themselves lucky to have that option. Most Americans don’t have options like Metro for relief. They don’t have access to convenient public transportation or live in walkable, connected neighborhoods. For years, we’ve under-invested in these solutions, and now we’re paying the price as fuel prices rise by the day and thousands or millions are wondering why they don’t have some other affordable alternative to driving everyday.
 |
| Click here to send a message to your Representative |
Want to join other voices demanding better transportation choices that can help us get where we need to go every day — while saving money, conserving oil, and fighting global warming?
Urge your Congressional member to support more funding for transit, biking, and smart growth by clicking TAKE ACTION to send them a message. Write and tell your representative to sign onto a letter from Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Ellen Tauscher urging Congress to increase funding for public transit, biking, public transportation, and walkable neighborhoods in federal climate legislation.
It makes no sense to spend another dime on road projects when oil is rapidly rising and will run out in our lifetime. We need major investments in clean electric train systems powered by wind, solar, and ocean/tidal energy. This is true sustainable transportation, and developers will follow and build dense towns and cities aroud the train stations.
America is losing it’s economic edge, and will continue to get worse if we don’t have a major switch in transportation policy and funding. China will leave us in the dust. They are right now building 5,000 miles of high speed trains comparable to France’s TGV which will travel at 200mph. Plus they are builidng 36 full size metro systems comparable to DC’s metro. Shanghai’s metro system will be larger than New York’s and London’s within the next 8 years. If China can organize and build a sustainable society so quickly, we can too, and we need to, or else America will become a third world country.
Andy K, agreed. And wind, solar and ocean/tidal yes, but to actually have a shot to keep those trains (and perhaps EVs) running, further investment in nuclear is unavoidable. We’re going to have to get over our squeamishness about that quickly and permanently.