Public Transportation Can Create More Jobs

[Dan Moadus]

I couldn't disagree more "Youngstownshrimp", Dennis' article tries to make lemonade out of lemons by pointing out that spending tax dollars on public transportation provides more continual employment, than simply spending money on highways, because of all the employees required to operate all the equipment (trains, buses, subways). He overlooks the fact that these people have to be paid, whereas the operators of "private transportation" (us) work at no cost to the taxpayer.

Consider that every WRTA bus operating in our Valley has a driver, who's wages are paid predominantly by us through our tax dollars. The WRTA is kept afloat by the Valley's taxpayers because we are a compassionate people who have decided to provide this service to help those who do not have their own private transportation.

If there is any public transportation that isn't subsidized by the taxpayer I'm sure Dennis will point it out to me, but I believe, whether it be bus service, or high-speed rail, it will be subsidized by taxpayers, who for the most part, will not use it.

As I have said; we are Americans, we don't ride trains, we drive our cars, preferably alone.

[Youngstownshrimp]

IrishBobby, you are getting it now, nice data, being green can create jobs, we just need informed mindsets to let the private sector run with it and the government get out of the way.

[irishbobcat]

Public Transportation Can Create More Jobs

According to a report released last week by Green Options:

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A study by Smart Growth America found that every billion dollars spent on public transportation projects created over 16,000 months of employment, almost twice as much work as those created by simple highway expansion and renewal projects.



found that a billion dollars spent on fixing or expanding highways created an average of 8,781 months of job. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act spent over $27 billion on "shovel ready" highway projects, many of which that have yet to get underway. Of the $15 billion thus far spent on highway projects, approximately 138,831 full time job-months have been created, or sustained. These projects are as simple as repaving roads to updating our sorely dated bridges and rural roads. There is no doubt that the money spent here was sorely needed as America's highway system gets more crowded and out outdated.
But the study found that public transportation projects employ almost twice as many people for the common sense reasoning that public transportation requires employees to operate buses, trains, subways, and other infrastructure. The stimulus invested just $8.4 billion in public transit projects, (and another $9.3 billion in high-speed train projects and expanding passenger train capacities, which wasn't counted in the study.) Public transportation definitely got the shaft. The SGA study figures that of the $4.4 billion spent on those public transportation projects, 72,328 full time job-months have been created or sustained.

If the study is accurate, the government created 368,935 months of employment. If the numbers were reversed, and $27 billion was spent on public transit, and just $8 billion spent on highways, the government could have created 515,235 months of employment, or 40% more jobs spending the same amount of money.

What's more, other studies have suggested you can save over $9,000 a year by using public transportation as opposed to driving a car. The House of Representatives also recently passed a $154 billion "mini-stimulus" for Main Street that includes another $27 billion for highways and just $8.4 for public transportation. If you're keeping tally at home, that is $17 billion for public transportation ($26 billion if you count money towards trains) and over $52 billion for highway projects.

Again, common sense dictates that, while our highways definitely need fixing and improving, the best way to knock down unemployment is to permanently employ people, save them money on transportation, and reduce our dependency on cars. Public transportation also requires less land to acquire, more vehicles to purchase, more people to run and maintain those vehicles, and reduces congestion on roads.