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Improve Public Transit & Fix Old Roads/Bridges in 2010!!

Determine how 6-Years Worth of TAXPAYER MONEY will be spent by Congress in the upcoming

6-YEARS worth of TAXPAYER MONEY will be appropriated by Congress with the upcoming Transportation Funding Bill! Historically, we have spent 9 TIMES more money on highway projects than on public transportation. However, AFFORDABLE, EFFICIENT and PROFITABLE public transit systems are ALREADY TRANSFORMING urban areas in unexpected places - like Utah, Texas, Arkansas & Arizona! The time is right to change this imbalance in our transportation system!

We need a NEW federal transportation policy that does the following:

1.) Prioritizes and encourages investment for:
(a) Efficient & Cost-Effective PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: in order to expand clean, efficient transportation choices for Americans.
> NEW & EXISTING projects' start-up ("capital") costs & labor/maintenance ("operating") costs should be considered to prevent lay-offs, fare hikes & cuts in service!
(b) WALKABLE and DYNAMIC Communities: that are accessible to pedestrians, bicyclists & commuters alike!
(*SEE Evidence BELOW*)

2.) FIXES our CRUMBLING ROADS and Bridges: by investing more federal highway money in maintenance, not massive new highway projects!
> It's time for the federal government to embrace an approach to highway spending that prioritizes maintaining and modernizing our existing highways over building more.

3.) SPENDS WISELY with appropriate OVERSIGHT of Taxpayers' Money: Accountability, Oversight, Long-Term Planning & Evaluation are key for taxpayer-funded projects.
> For decades, the federal government has spent billions of dollars on highway projects with little evaluation and no accountability. That must change.
> Federal transportation money should be spent only on projects that produce real results over the long haul, by reducing our dependence on oil, curbing global warming POLLUTION, alleviating CONGESTION, improving SAFETY, and supporting healthy, sustainable communities.

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WHY FUND PUBLIC TRANSIT??

Public Transit has proven to be an AFFORDABLE and EFFICIENT way to BOOST our ECONOMY by creating NEW JOBS and spurring NEW INDUSTRIAL & COMMERCIAL development, as evidenced by these telling facts:

> The CAPACITY of a 6-LANE FREEWAY can soon fit into light rails in Phoenix, AZ (just started in 2008)!! The surrounding empty lots have been REVITALIZED by new entertainment, housing and retail!(http://www.valleymetro.org/commuting_options/light_rail/)
(http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/131472)

> Projects were nearly $30 MILLION UNDER-BUDGET to construct and MONTHS AHEAD of SCHEDULE in Salt Lake City, Utah! Now, Utah has the second fastest growing light rail system in the nation, second to 151-mile system being constructed in Colorado!
(http://governor.utah.gov/dea/ERG/ERG2002/Trans.PDF)
(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/realestate/22nati.html)

> PROPERTY VALUES increased by 89% in LOW-INCOME, high-crime suburbs of Charlotte, NC and by 50% in just two years time AROUND cable car STATIONS in Dallas, TX !!
(http://reconnectingamerica.org/public/stories/396)(Passenger Transport, 06 June 2005)

> RIDERSHIP SOARED: 40%-50% higher than predicted in Utah !! Similar figures in Arkansas, Texas, Arizona and North Carolina !!
(http://www.apta.com/research/stats/ridership/riderep/documents/07q4lr.pdf)

> Over $550 MILLION GENERATED by in-state and out-of-state development in Charlotte, NC ($4.26 BILLION in Dallas, TX!!) with NEW CAFES, APARTMENTS & SHOPS built around the Light Rail cooridor!!
(Passenger Transport, 06 June 2005)(http://www.dart.org/about/WeinsteinClowerTODNov07.pdf)

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Complied by: CALPIRG Sustainable Transit Campaign at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
Contact: Aysha Rüya Cohen, Coordinator of the CALPIRG Public Transit Campaign; Email: arcohen@uci.edu. Thank you!

Acknowledgements: Many thanks to:
> Dr. Boarnet (Journal of Regional Science, Editor)
> Sarah Catz (acting Deputy Secretary of Transportation for the State of California, 1999)
> Dr. David Feldman (Chair, Planning, Policy & Design Dept. @ UCI)
> Dr. Clitheroe (Architecture Foundation of Orange County, Board Member)
> Tax Oversight Committee for Measure M (OCTA)
> Erin Steva (CALPIRG, Transportation Associate)
> Sadegh Iranmanesh, Allen Lu, Seth Weiss, Felix Williams, Joshua Leatherman, Christa Angeles, Christine DuBois and others for all your hard work on this campaign!

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