Post endorses mass transit

One possible transit vision.

Invest in Mass Transit
A farsighted way to jolt the economy
VOTERS SENT a clear message to Capitol Hill on Election Day: Even when times are hard, they’re willing to pay for mass transit. Nationwide, voters approved over 70 percent of major transportation-funding measures, according to the Center for Transportation Excellence. That’s double the rate at which ballot initiatives are generally approved, and it is even more impressive because gas prices were already declining.
Transit ridership numbers also continue to grow: From July through September, ridership shot up 6.5 percent compared with the same period last year, the largest such jump in a quarter-century. Lawmakers, who might think there is less urgency to update the nation’s public transit system because of cheaper gas, should view the results of Nov. 4, and the growth in ridership, as a call to action for mass transit. A good start would be to make infrastructure improvements a key component of any economic stimulus bill. …
On Saturday, Mr. Obama said, “We will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s.” In transportation, the new administration and Congress should work to strike a balance between ready-to-go projects that can jolt the economy and long-term investment in public transit.

The Post also recommends lawmakers avoid simply funding the existing projects that are ready to go. Just because a project has completed an EIS doesn’t mean it’s more worthy than others.

Still, the Washington region should get some projects ready to go, like the M Street Blue Line. The current urgency points out the folly of DC’s current streetcar approach, where officials refuse to announce plans for the next streetcar route after the first one. (Actually, they had a complete network of routes published, then pulled the plans off the Web). We should have had a package ready to go for just the eventuality that the federal government stepped up with money in hand, as they may well do. Since we haven’t, I hope WMATA and DDOT are working on getting some plans on paper, to include our region’s top needs in the potential federal funding mix.

Tips: Ben Thielen and Bianchi.