| Most of us have few alternatives
to driving for most of our daily activities. Many neighborhoods are not
built with sidewalks or within easy or safe walking distance to school,
the pharmacy, a movie or the store. For most people, transit service
is either not available or it is too limited.
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| Most major metropolitan areas including Denver (pictured here)
use a regional sales tax of one half to one cent to fund public transit. |
Minnesota’s funding system for transportation is not balanced.
Roads have a constitutionally dedicated funding source and revenue to
the state road fund has been increasing steadily for more than a decade.
Transit has no such fund and transit revenues have been declining. Unlike
most other major regions, Twin Cities’ transit providers don’t
have a significant local revenue source so they must make their case
to the governor and the state legislature every year. This makes long-term
planning difficult and handicaps our state in getting federal matching
grants for major transit projects.
Public transit reduces the need for costly roadway expansion and
parking and provides for more efficient use of land.
There
is a similar funding bias against walking and bicycling even though
a significant number of the trips that people make each day are two miles
or less (1).
Financial support for walking and bicycling is minimal at all levels
of government. Walking and bicycling are the least costly forms of
transportation with the most benefits for the environment and
public health.
A
greater reliance on walking and bicycling will improve health,
reduce damage to the environment and provide “eyes on the
street,” which makes neighborhoods safer.
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