tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4840511756286055487.post8890245773273163437..comments2024-03-27T20:04:53.585-06:00Comments on Illinois Transportation Issues: How Much Financial Support for Public Transit is Enough?Tom Bamontehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08257129333713108323noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4840511756286055487.post-40967049972175881272007-05-26T11:17:00.000-06:002007-05-26T11:17:00.000-06:00re: Justin's point about total personal transporta...re: Justin's point about total personal transportation costs as a percentage of GDP. CNT has some interesting analysis regarding "transportation affordability" -- personal expenditures on transportation in different cities. It appears to be inversely correlated with housing expenditures. I seem to recall that they've also noted that spending on autos is export and capital intensive: most money spent on cars is sent outside the region (Detroit, Saudi Arabia). Compare that with transit, whose primary expenditure is labor which has a much higher local multiplier value.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09283122571671344629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4840511756286055487.post-7575905609239623172007-04-20T19:11:00.000-06:002007-04-20T19:11:00.000-06:00true enough, "the transit system in this area is [...true enough, "the transit system in this area is [not] underfunded relative to the transit systems in other U.S. urban areas". the reason this is a meaningless comparison is that public transit is underfunded *everywhere* in the united states. even new york outside manhattan is short on transit. it's not hard to beat the almost nonexistent transit systems in atlanta and houston.<BR/><BR/>public transit is an urgent priority because cars are bad for public health (pollution, accidents, making people more sedentary), they make cities less livable (sprawl, parking lots, strip malls), and worst of all they're one of the biggest causes of global warming. when we figure the financial benefits of transit, we have to include all the savings we get from lower health insurance costs, less money needed to build roads, and lower longterm costs to address global warming.<BR/><BR/>to greatly increase the transit budget we don't need to take money away from schools and hospitals. we just need to raise taxes on gas and divert the billions and billions of dollars we spend building and maintaining roads.Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06912406198051338502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4840511756286055487.post-84494077291938291882007-04-19T16:09:00.000-06:002007-04-19T16:09:00.000-06:00It's unclear that GDP is a particularly relevant v...It's unclear that GDP is a particularly relevant variable. <BR/><BR/>The need for public transit funding will vary with the differing costs of doing business (the public transit business, specifically) in different cities and the demand for public transit services. Each of these will vary widely from city to city, depending on the geography of the area served, the age of whatever infrastructure needs to be maintained, the private opportunity costs of not using public transit (i.e., driving or getting around less), and the public costs of not having public transit (e.g., greater auto traffic congestion and air quality problems that are mitigated by public transit).<BR/><BR/>A better way of measuring how much funding is "adequate" would be to compute the funding needed to meet a given set of service standards for "adequate" public transit. <BR/><BR/>For example, one might say that "adequate" public transit means ensuring that 100% of the city has a public transit route within a X minute walk, with a service frequency of at least once every Y minutes, with an average travel times of Z miles per hour, with all routes being accessible, etc. The "adequate" service standard would likely vary with the time of day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4840511756286055487.post-15563947932957806572007-04-19T09:16:00.000-06:002007-04-19T09:16:00.000-06:00Huh - interesting stuff. I bet transit funding is...Huh - interesting stuff. I bet transit funding is more a function of government decisions than an inevitability of economic activity.<BR/><BR/>Also, remember transit's relationship with other urban transport modes. A higher % GDP spending on transit might mean less money spent on passenger transport altogether, and by extension "unlock" a larger GDP - check out <A HREF="http://www.boku.ac.at/verkehr/06_02_Mezghani_UITP.pdf" REL="nofollow">slide 8</A>.JDAntoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15355688379118505208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4840511756286055487.post-42826568224540643262007-04-17T09:56:00.000-06:002007-04-17T09:56:00.000-06:00Oh, and I meant to add, many thanks for changing t...Oh, and I meant to add, many thanks for changing the blog's color scheme!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4840511756286055487.post-21930652823141621992007-04-17T09:55:00.000-06:002007-04-17T09:55:00.000-06:00I'd be out of my depth if I tried to do any detail...I'd be out of my depth if I tried to do any detailed fiscal analysis, but as a general comment I'd say: now how do these levels compare with transit funding in Canada and Europe? When I ride the CTA, and when I look at the minimal public transit in my outlying city neighborhood (one marginally adequate north-south bus line and three east-west lines so widely spaced, so limited in service hours, and so unreliable that they amount to no practical east-west transit), I think it will be many years (and the replacement of nearly every politician in City Hall, Springfield, and Washington) before we have to wonder if we're investing enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4840511756286055487.post-8469870501535984802007-04-17T05:43:00.000-06:002007-04-17T05:43:00.000-06:00Ask PB. Alternatively--ask the RTA.Ask PB. Alternatively--ask the RTA.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4840511756286055487.post-53968098793990398262007-04-17T04:11:00.000-06:002007-04-17T04:11:00.000-06:00Anonymous--You are teasing us. It sounds like you...Anonymous--<BR/><BR/>You are teasing us. It sounds like you have done this analysis. Please share the results and spare me the trouble of hours of rooting around the National Transit Database.<BR/><BR/>ModeratorTom Bamontehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08257129333713108323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4840511756286055487.post-7466687544351022612007-04-16T22:11:00.000-06:002007-04-16T22:11:00.000-06:00real close--now index the supply to gdp per trips/...real close--now index the supply to gdp per trips/all modes and per capita and you're there.....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com