A new report by a group called Smart Growth America has a new study that indicates that when it comes to job creation, money spent on public transit creates nearly twice as many jobs as highway infastructure projects.
One of the main reasons why is that public transit projects end up spending much less on land acquisition and more on buying and maintaining vehicle (and rails lines).
Kansas City and most of Missouri badly needs more transit funding -- and Kansas City, in particular, needs to address some type of regional transit system (reliable bus and commuter rail). Information like this could be ideal for helping the city put together another proposal for federal stimulus dollars....and be more influential in creating local jobs.
Meanwhile, reliable public transit that is not affected by inclimate weather in the same way that motor vehicle traffic is would ease some of the city's other concerns regarding snow removal....although it would make the sidewalk issue a higher priority.
Hat Tip: Good.
Some local data on this topic....
http://letsgokc.com/archives/397
Posted by: Eric Rogers | January 13, 2010 at 08:16 AM