Public Transportation: A Lever to Boost the Economy, but a Lever Under Stress

Consider the top 10 public transportation regions in the country: New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Seattle and San Francisco.  These regions account for about a quarter of the nation’s population and a third of our economic output, and they are projected to grow 26 percent in the next 30 years.

Public transportation is a vital part of these regional economies, yet a huge backlog exists in investment required to bring the systems in our top regions up to a state of good repair.

My friend, Neal Peirce, recently wrote an excellent essay on this subject, which referenced MARTA and our region’s transportation investment referendum to be held next July. I recommend it to you.

–          Jim Durrett, executive director, BCID