Public Transportation

Infrastructure
Written By Alysha Rashid

Southern states have among the lowest rates of public transportation usage in the country.

Percent of workers commuting by public transportation, 2022

Workers 16 years and over

Public transit generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less wear and tear on roads (per passenger mile traveled) than private cars.1 Mass transit also requires less space for parking lots and can reduce highway congestion.[2] While electric cars reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared with gas-powered cars, they are not environmentally neutral. Each car requires the mining of lithium and cobalt (with significant environmental impacts and human risks) and the disposal of its batteries can generate additional pollution.[2] At the end of the day, electric-powered public transit emits fewer greenhouse gasses than gas-powered transit and has a lower environmental impact than electric cars (per passenger mile traveled).

Certain regions of the United States, and other wealthy countries in Europe and Asia, have invested substantially in public transportation and prioritized transit-oriented development, which encourages public transit ridership. But, as a whole, the U.S. has invested more in highways than public transportation and, as such, American public transit usage is very low. Thus, the transportation sector produces a higher amount of greenhouse gasses than any other sector in the U.S. economy (Greenhouse Gas Emissions). In New York and Washington DC, about 20% of workers use public transportation to get to work. Across the South, fewer than 2% of workers use public transit. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes funding that can help states invest in flexible public transit options that will be in demand as boomers age in place.[3]

  1. IEA. (n.d.). GHG intensity of passenger transport modes, 2019. IEA. https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/ghg-intensity-of-passenger-transport-modes-2019

  2. Goundla, D. (2023, May 27). The Superiority of Public Transit over Electric Cars. Medium. https://medium.com/@dineshgoundla/electric-cars-are-not-better-the-superiority-of-public-transit-over-cars-9004748c56fe

  3. Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program. (2023, October 10). US Department of Transportation. https://www.transportation.gov/grants/SMART

Alysha Rashid
Previous

Flood Insurance
Next

Uncontested State Legislative Seats