In 2009, National Geographic conducted an annual study measuring and monitoring consumer progress toward environmentally sustainable consumption in seventeen countries around the world. Of all the nations surveyed, the United States has the lowest percentage of people who use public transit on a daily basis. And we have the highest percentage of people who never, ever, take public transit.
The public transit industry joined together on June 17 to celebrate the 5th annual National Dump the Pump Day. Dump the Pump, sponsored by APTA, provided the perfect opportunity for the industry to tell the story of the many benefits of public transportation. The day’s events garnered plenty of media coverage.
Is the Obama administration’s "livability" initiative just a way for intrusive federal bureaucrats to choke off Americans’ prized "automobility" - four wheels to commute from ever-distant suburbs or just to pick up a quart of milk? This is the way some commentators would have it.
The transportation sector accounts for almost three-quarters of U.S. oil consumption and one-third of our carbon emissions. If we really want to break our dependence on oil and improve our global competitiveness, we must focus on the way people commute and move goods.
Earl Blumenauer, StreetsBlog Capitol Hill, June 21, 2010
As Americans look for ways to cut travel cost this summer, many vacationers seek affordability through the use of a city’s local public transportation system. According to APTA’s Green Travel Forecast, 52 percent of summer vacationers will use local public transportation systems to get around during their trip.
American Public Transportation Association, May 28, 2010
Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff told business and transit stakeholders gathered in Boston that the Obama administration is committed to keeping the nation's transit systems efficient and maintained and asked for a similar commitment from them.
Major transportation industry groups have "grave concerns" about a draft Senate climate and energy plan because it imposes new fees on the industry and diverts too much of that revenue elsewhere.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Friday that Americans are "tired" of the congestion caused by motorized transportation, and instead are looking for other options such as bicycle lanes and walking paths, which the government will add to its infrastructure.
The federal government must ensure that its investments in housing and transportation align. The newly cooperative Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development may improve that prospect.
Yonah Freemark for The Transport Politic, April 27th, 2010
The public will be able to step inside one of the District's new streetcars next week during a four-day preview of the much-talked-about revival scheduled for service in 2012.
The bill sets policy on roads, bridges, mass transit, and freight movement for six years. It was supposed to be reauthorized last year, but the White House ...
Christian Science Monitor, by the Monitor's Editorial Board, April 19, 2010
Hot on the heels of debate over a new transportation spending bill, a new poll shows that most Americans want to see more funding for public transportation, and only drive because they have few better options.
Too little is done to make the region's public transportation network a convenient and practical alternative to driving.
Your basic middle-class L.A. household spends about $8,600 a year on gas, insurance, parking and vehicle maintenance, according to the California Public Interest Research Group, a watchdog organization. That compares with about $8,000 for the average U.S. family and represents more than 20% of most people's annual expenditures. Yet what are we doing to make public transportation a more convenient and practical alternative for people? Not enough.
WASHINGTON, DC - What do a jilted gas pump, an upbeat musical depiction of
the joys of avoiding traffic and an inspiring call to action to save the planet
have in common? These are the winners of the American Public Transportation
Association (APTA) "Dump the Pump" transit rider-generated online video contest.
Participants were asked to create a video that demonstrated why they were
"dumping the pump" in favor of using public transportation.
Bob Richardson of Portland, Oregon, the first place winner created a
high-quality video which depicts a familiar scene of a woman dumping a
significant other. In this scene however, she is leaving the gas pump behind for
a more attractive suitor - her local public transit system.
American Public Transportation Association, November 18, 2009
As Democrats in both chambers of Congress work on drafting new economic recovery legislation, they now have a preliminary list of how much spending can be set in motion on short notice: $15 billion for transit projects and $48 billion for highway projects.
House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar on Wednesday called for at least $69 billion in new federal spending on highway and transit projects, a bid to use a second stimulus bill to address a looming shortfall in transportation funding.
The Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2009
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood discusses the rebuilding of America's
infrastructure and the future of high-speed rail.
Public transit ridership in Minnesota rose by 5 percent last year, as part of a national trend spurred by rising gas prices and the economic downturn. The increased ridership saved about 39 million gallons of gasoline, according to a new report by the advocacy group Environment Minnesota. Minnesotans also drove less, with a two percent decline in miles driven in 2008 over the previous year.
A new study released today shows that investing in public transportation provides jobs to the American workers who may need them the most. Job Impacts of Spending on Public Transportation: an Update shows that two-thirds (67 percent) of the jobs created by capital investment in the public transit industry replaces lost blue-collar jobs with green jobs in the public transit sector.
American Public Transportation Association, April 29, 2009
According to Bill Millar, President of the American Public Transportation Association, "One of the most powerful tools an individual may have to reduce their daily carbon dioxide emissions - the use of public transportation - is not part of the new climate change legislation. Despite the facts that show providing greater access to public transportation may be the most effective weapon for combating climate change, there are no allowances from the cap-and-trade program for public transportation in the current climate legislation H.R. 2454 entitled the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA), which is being considered by the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week."
American Public Transportation Association, May 18, 2009
This report showcases the new generation of innovative public transit already operating across America. Through 11 case studies, we demonstrate how cutting-edge transit has been implemented quickly and cost-effectively in a variety of settings from urban to rural.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority is betting on high-speed rail. The Authority is planning to build an 800-mile steel-wheel bullet train between San Francisco and Los Angeles. This new line is designed to make train travel as convenient as airplane travel, says Quentin L. Kopp, chairman of the Authority. The state's plans were designed "in the context of California having 50 million people by the year 2030," Kopp says. "The equivalent of what the high-speed rail will deliver would require 3000 new miles of freeway plus nine runways and 90 new gates at airports.
By S.E. Kramer for Popular Mechanics, April 9, 2009
Rose Sheridan, a vice president at the American Public Transportation Association, said that transit ridership grew by rates ranging from 3.42 to 6.52 percent in each of the first three quarters of 2008, but growth slowed to only 1.68 percent in the fourth quarter. She said "We think that many people who have recently taken public transit for the first time realize how much money they're saving," Ms. Sheridan said. "And so many of them have stuck with transit."
By Jim Motavalli for the New York Times, March 11, 2009
There was a consistent increase in housing in urban centers from 2002 to 2007. Changes in demographics, high gas prices and longer commutes on congested roads are generating more interest in smaller homes in urban settings.
"The development industry finally began to create the kind of in-town products that people were looking for,"says David Goldberg with Smart Growth America, a national coalition that advocates denser development to allow easy access to jobs and services on foot or mass transit. "It also reflects the investment that a lot of metro areas have made in rail transit systems."
More people rode the nation's public buses, subways and commuter trains last year than in any year since 1956, when the federal government created the Interstate highway system, according to a report by a transit association.
Americans took nearly 10.7 billion rides on public transportation in 2008, a 4 percent increase over the previous year, according to the report, by the American Public Transportation Association, a nonprofit organization that represents transit systems. Use of public transportation in the United States has risen 38 percent since 1995, the report said.
Even though the price of gas has continued to drop public transportation riders still enjoy a significant economic savings. A person can achieve an average annual savings of $8,416 per year by taking public transportation instead of driving, based on today's gas prices and the average unreserved parking rate, according to the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) “Transit Savings Report.”
American Public Transportation Association, December 4, 2008
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced today that Americans took more than 2.8 billion trips on public transportation in the second quarter of 2008. This is almost 140 million more trips than last year for the same time period.
American Public Transportation Association, September 9, 2008
With ridership on public transportation surging and high fuel prices severely impacting public transportation systems' budgets across the nation, 85 percent of public transit systems report capacity problems, according to a new nationwide survey of transit systems released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).
American Public Transportation Association, September 9, 2008
Cities with long-established public transit systems and areas with a strong driving culture are both reporting increases in ridership of buses and trains.
By Clifford Kraus for the New York Times, May 10, 2008
“NPR takes a look at how people across the country are coping with the gas crunch, the factors behind skyrocketing oil prices, what's being done to bring them back to earth and cost-cutting strategies to employ in the meantime.”
The most energy efficient households in America that produce the least amount of carbon are located within close proximity of a bus or rail line. The people in those households drive an average of 4,400 fewer miles annually as compared to persons in similar households with no access to public transit, according to a new study released today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).
Respondents to the survey submitted an array of “great ideas” and successful
programs related to topics such as driver training, special services, special trips,
reduced fares, travel training, and information and outreach. A number of
respondents also developed partnerships, collaborative processes and
coordination activities with aging organizations (area agencies on aging, senior
centers, adult day services), community service, and volunteer groups.
American Public Transportation Association, December 2007
Cars, trucks, and airplanes account for just 27 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Almost twice as much - 48 percent - is produced by the construction and operation of buildings. Making existing buildings more energy efficient offers our earliest, biggest chances to cut greenhouse gas emissions, as well as creating lots of blue-collar jobs that can't be shipped overseas.
As some gas prices pass $4 a gallon, transit systems are experiencing significant ridership increases, and Metro officials caution that trains could be overwhelmed if prices go even higher. Officials are looking for ways to buy or lease more buses, expand parking, encourage employers to stagger work schedules and persuade current riders to avoid the peak of the morning rush period.
By Lena H. Sun and Jonathan Mummolo for The Washington Post
The infrastructure issue - the long shadow thrown across America's future by deteriorating roadways, bridges, railroads, water systems, and schools - finally seems to be getting hot.
Across the developing world, governments are pouring billions of dollars into projects to relieve stress on antiquated roads and reduce carbon emissions. Nations such as China and India are planning to spend between 8 and 9 percent of their gross domestic product on infrastructure upgrades and mass transit. In contrast, the United States now spends less than two percent of the nation's GDP on efforts to shore up its transportation infrastructure while also launching more efficient, congestion-relieving mass transit projects.
Can today's Americans make wise choices for the futures of their communities? In a string of referendum votes across the country last week, glimpses of refreshing far-sightedness shone through.
Today, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) released a groundbreaking new study finding that public transportation use saves 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline every year, and can reduce household expenses by $6,200 - more than the average household pays for food in a year.
American Public Transportation Association, January 9, 2007
It's often said that the trip to work can kill you. But if you live in Houston, what really takes a beating is your wallet. There, the average commuter spends 20.9% of his annual household costs on getting to work...
A metropolis is considered green if it fosters humans' connections to the natural world. "Nature in the city must be cultivated, like a garden, rather than ignored or subdued." ....
American Public Transportation Association, April 1, 2007
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced today that Americans took 10.1 billion trips on local public transportation in 2006 - the first time in 49 years. Over the last decade, public transportation's growth rate outpaced the growth rate of the population and the growth rate of vehicle miles traveled on our nation's highways....
American Public Transportation Association, March 12, 2007
Ridership on public transportation jumped to the highest level in nearly five decades in 2006 as high gas prices and expanded bus and train service enticed people to park their cars.
The new Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said the federal government must assume greater responsibility for mass transit security, just as it did for air security after terrorists flew planes into buildings five years ago.
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) today announced that public transportation ridership has increased by nearly 3% in the first nine months of 2006, as Americans took 7.8 billion trips on public transit.
American Public Transportation Association, January 4, 2006
Transportation scored high at the ballot box on Tuesday, winning
21 of 30 measures (3 still pending) totaling $40 billion in urban,
suburban, and rural communities across the nation...
American Public Transportation Association, November 13, 2006
NPR : Cities Lure White-Collar Workers Onto Buses
Increasing numbers of commuters are using buses as a faster and cheaper way to get to work, new figures show. Urban municipalities are expanding bus services -- and adding features like wireless Internet access -- in an effort to target white-collar and business employees who might otherwise drive their cars.
by Kathleen Schalch, All Things Considered, December 5, 2006
WASHINGTON--"We've just passed the 300 million mark, evidence of
America's dynamism. But the only policy response has been to build
a $700 million wall along the Mexican border. How dumb!" By Neal Peirce.
"The subway has shaped New York City. More than any other public
works program or municipal project, the subway has shaped the city's
development and sustained its global competitiveness over the past
100 years. The subway's profound impact on the city's growth and
development - particularly in the outer boroughs - surpasses that of
the city's other widely acclaimed infrastructure projects, such
as the Brooklyn Bridge and Robert Moses' highway network."
The Bush Administration released its
Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Budget proposal, which recommends a funding
level of $8.87 billion for the federal transit program. The Administration's
proposal represents an increase of $370.3 million or 4.4 percent
over the FY 2006 final appropriation level.
American Public Transportation Association, February 8, 2006
APTA is disappointed that President Bush's proposed FY 2007 Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) budget for the Targeted Infrastructure
Protection program, a security infrastructure program that includes
public transportation, freezes funding at the $600 million level
proposed last year...
American Public Transportation Association, February 2, 2006
With high gas prices in the third quarter of 2005, national transit
ridership grew by 3.3 % from the same period in 2004, according
to a report released by the American Public Transportation Association
(APTA) today. At the same time that transit ridership was increasing
during the 2005 third quarter, Americans parked their cars and vehicle
miles of travel (VMT) decreased by 0.2%, according to the Federal
Highway Administration statistics. Additionally, a recent survey
of transit systems conducted by APTA indicates that this growing
ridership trend continued in November, despite a drop in gas prices
that month...
American Public Transportation Association, January 18, 2006
You have to wonder: If Katrina
and its multibillion-dollar bill to repair faulty levees haven't
awakened us to our massive national infrastructure deficit, what
will?
Opinion/Column By Neal Peirce, December 25, 2005
American Public Transportation Association / 1666 K Street NW • Suite 1100 • Washington, DC 20006 • 202.496.4800 • pt2info@apta.com