The next time an official tells you we need to spend more money on public transit, rather than roads, refer him/her to these two stories from today’s News & Observer.
Public transportation operators across the Triangle are doing everything they can to lure passengers onto their buses during Try Transit Week.
A GoTriangle scavenger hunt will feature prize drawings all week, based on clues distributed online to GoTriangle followers on Twitter and Triangle Transit fans on Facebook. Prizes include gift cards, mp3 players and Carolina Panthers tickets.
Ray LaHood, the U.S. transportation secretary, on Monday announced the approval of more federal stimulus funds for transit improvements in the Triangle.
Raleigh will receive $4 million to help build a bus operations and maintenance center for Capital Area Transit. Triangle Transit will get $900,000 to buy a van and three 40-foot buses.
Moral of the story: Scarce public resources (well, scarce unless you believe it’s OK to simply print more cash) are being spent on a product for which there is limited demand in this marketplace. In an area that features an urban-suburban lifestyle in which people routinely live in one county and work in another, people prefer the convenience and privacy of their cars, plain and simple.
So what is the answer to addressing the transportation woes of the Triangle and the state? John Locke Foundation policy analysts provide background and suggestions in this 2008 report.
In addition, David Hartgen, president of the Hartgen Group and professor emeritus of transportation studies at UNC-Charlotte, discusses challenges facing the state’s highway system in this interview.
