BENEFITS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Public transportation improves the quality of life in communities across the country by providing safe, efficient and economical service. It also serves as a vital component necessary for a healthy economy. Not only does public transit benefit the people who use it, it also benefits society as a whole.
Public Transportation Enhances Personal Opportunities
1) Public transportation provides personal mobility and freedom for people from every walk of life.
2) Public transportation provides access to job opportunities, as well as a transportation option to go to school, visit friends, go shopping, or go to a doctor’s office.
Public Transportation Saves Money
1) The average household spends 18 cents on transportation, and 94 percent of this goes to buying, maintaining and operating cars
2) Public transportation provides an affordable, and for many, necessary alternative to driving.
3) Americans living in areas served by public transportation save $18 billion annually in congestion costs.
4)Transit availability can reduce the need for an additional car, a yearly expense of $6,251 in a household budget.
3) Americans living in areas served by public transportation save $18 billion annually in congestion costs.
4)Transit availability can reduce the need for an additional car, a yearly expense of $6,251 in a household budget.
Public Transportation Provides Economic Opportunity:
- Every $1 invested in public transportation projects generates approximately $6 in local economic activity.
- Every $10 million in capital investment in public transportation yields $30 million in increased business sales.
- Every $10 million in operating investment in public transportation yields $32 million in increased business sales.
- Real estate -- residential, commercial or business that is served by public transportation is valued more highly by the Public than similar properties not as well served by transit.
- Public transportation enhances local and state economic growth in many ways, increasing the local customer base for a range of services -- shopping malls, restaurants, medical facilities and other transportation services.
Public Transportation Creates Community Benefits:
- Public transportation fosters transit orientated development that provides convenient access to public transportation and integration of transit in the community.
- Public transportation encourages land-use programs that generate synergies and create a range of housing types, from single-family homes to apartments, to accommodate diverse incomes and family structures.
- Public transportation revitalizes neighborhoods, increases social interaction and pedestrian activity, enhances safety, and helps create a sense of “place” that will help make a community unique and special.
- Public transportation generates a financial return for communities and businesses as well as individual and collective savings that can be captured and invested in housing or amenities rather than transportation, parking and auto-orientated infrastructure.
- When commuters ride public transportation or walk, contact with neighbors tends to increase, ultimately helping to bring a community together.
Sources: http://www.gometro.org/benefits
