A Pitch for Mass Transit (NY Times Editorial)

[Sherman]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/opinion/05mon2.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print


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January 5, 2009
Editorial

A Pitch for Mass Transit

Unlike President Bush, Barack Obama is going to enter office with a
clear appreciation of the urgent problems of climate change and
America’s growing dependency on foreign oil — and a strong commitment
to address both.

One way he can do this is to give mass transit — trains, buses,
commuter rails — the priority it deserves and the full financial and
technological help it needs and has long been denied.

Mass transit has always played second fiddle to the automobile, so Mr.
Obama will need strong allies. Ray LaHood, Mr. Obama’s choice for
transportation secretary, must be not only an ally but a champion for
mass transit. Mr. LaHood is a Republican and former member of Congress
from rural Illinois, where farmers produce a lot of ethanol and where
people mostly drive. His résumé on transportation issues is thin, and
we fear he may need some coaxing in this new direction.

Another important ally should be — and almost certainly will be —
James Oberstar, a Minnesota Democrat who is chairman of the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

For years, the division of transportation money in Washington has
heavily favored cars and trucks — more than 80 percent of the big
transit money from gas taxes goes to highways and bridges, and less
than 20 percent to railroads or mass transit. Mr. Oberstar is leading
the charge to change that formula and divide this money a little more
evenly. This will not be easy. Automobiles will be with us a long
time, and old spending habits die hard. But as part of the stimulus
package now under discussion for transportation, Mr. Oberstar is
proposing $30 billion for highways and bridges and $12 billion for
public transit. That is certainly a far healthier mix.

The new administration could further help mass transit by shelving the
unfair “cost effectiveness index” that President Bush put in place
several years ago for new transit programs. The net effect of this
index was to make it easier to build highways and almost impossible to
use federal money for buses, streetcars, light rail, trolleys —
indeed, any commuter-rail projects.

For Mr. Obama’s transit agenda and for Mr. LaHood, the next big
challenge will be a transit bill that Congress must pass by September.
Mr. LaHood is widely praised for his management skills and his ability
to work well with others. Those abilities will certainly be needed if
he and the Congress are to find and then finance the best, the most-
efficient and the most-advanced ways for Americans to move around.

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