Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/521868
June 2015 | EquipmentWorld.com 98 I t turns out there is a simple solution to our road funding problem: Just say "No" to roads. This is the wisdom offered by the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), which identifies itself as "a consumer group that stands up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security, or our right to fully participate in our democratic society." PIRG has issued a steady stream of public statements on the road and transportation funding crisis over the past few years, most of them featuring interpretations of transportation research misleading enough to make a political spin doctor blush. My favorite was the one stating that the U.S. Depart- ment of Transportation's data showing a decline in vehicle miles travelled per person was proof that America is abandoning automobile transportation in favor of public transit, bicycling and walking … the point being, we should put all that wasted road money into these other, more popular, forms of transport. They didn't think the worst economic recession in 80 years was a factor. Neither was the gross increase in highway usage in the years following the grimmest months of the recession. The only data that mattered to them was VMT per person. The newest PIRG exposé is the news that fuel taxes and other driving-related fees don't cover the full cost of sustaining our road and bridge infrastructure. Okay, so that's not news. But the PIRG spin is news: since the cost of maintaining and constructing roads and bridges is no longer completely covered by user fees, we need to invest transportation funds more wisely – as in, not on roads. "The highest return on invest- ment is on bike, pedestrian and transit projects," a PIRG source states. You have to wonder how happy motorists would be if their fuel taxes stayed at current levels but were substantially diverted to sub- sidize bike, pedestrian and transit projects. One of the sleaziest aspects of the PIRG pitch was citing a Norman Mineta Transportation Institute study as proof Ameri- cans buy their wacky proposi- tion. "Ordinary Americans agree," reads the PIRG statement. "Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe it is appropriate to use gasoline tax revenue to support public transportation …" The fact that this was an affirmation of the long-standing scope of the federal transportation program never got mentioned. Highway users and the fuel taxes they pay have provided billions of dollars for mass transit over the years, not to mention millions for bike paths, pedestrian walkways and the like. While the federal transportation program can always be improved and must constantly be modern- ized to address changing reali- ties and achieve higher levels of cost-efficiency, the wacky propa- ganda of PIRG adds nothing to the debate about the transporta- tion program, or even how best to keep America economically and socially viable. In the world of strange bedfellows, their closest al- lies are anti-tax conservatives and libertarians who would happily see the federal highway program die, though they would presumably turn apoplectic – along with mil- lions of liberals and moderates – at the notion of funneling all that tax money into public transportation and nature trails. final word | by Kirk Landers Just Say "No" The wacky propaganda of PIRG adds nothing to the debate about the transportation program, or even how best to keep America economically and socially viable. " "