News Release
Statement by
American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President William W. Millar
January 24, 2007
Virginia Miller
202-496-4816
vmiller@apta.com
(Download In Adobe PDF format)
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is disappointed that, in his State of the Union address, President Bush did not recognize public transportation usage as one of the ways Americans can reduce their dependence on foreign oil. We urge Congress and the Administration to increase investment to make public transit services available to more Americans and to include incentives that will encourage greater transit use in the energy legislation that will be developed.
The millions of Americans who use public transportation each day know it saves gasoline. APTA commissioned a study entitled "Public Transportation and Petroleum Savings in the U.S.: Reducing Dependence on Oil" so that the President, Congress and our citizens can have the right facts before them to make informed decisions about how to solve our country's energy issues. The research was conducted by ICF International and revealed:
- Current public transportation usage reduces U.S. gasoline consumption by 1.4 billion gallons each year. That is the equivalent of 108 million fewer cars filling up every year-almost 300,000 every day, 34 fewer supertankers leaving the Middle East, or ninety percent of oil imported from Kuwait.
This report convincingly shows that public transportation is a critical piece of the solution to address our "addiction to oil". It is already making a difference and can play an even stronger role in the future. Those solutions can range from very simple to more comprehensive remedies. For instance, right now the tax-free transit commute benefit is $110 per month while a tax free parking benefit is $215 a month. One simple remedy is to change the tax benefits to make them equal for using public transit or parking. In addition, another important simple solution is to increase tax incentives for transit-oriented development.
Some comprehensive solutions include improving the transportation planning process. This process specified in SAFETEA-LU does not consider the energy consumption consequences of transportation investment decisions. At a minimum the "energy efficiency" of a project should be a planning factor.
The federal government must significantly increase investment in public transportation. This investment is essential to provide greater freedom, access, opportunity and choice for Americans from all walks of life and from all across the country and that can help make us energy independent.
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APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 member organizations including public transportation systems; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; and state associations and departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical public transportation services and products. APTA members serve more than 90 percent of persons using public transportation in the United States and Canada.
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