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Members of Voices for Public Transit know public transportation benefits everyone. We’re keeping it moving.

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Members of Voices for Public Transit know public transportation benefits everyone. We’re keeping it moving.

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Voices For Transit

We All Benefit

Whether you ride or not, public transportation benefits all of us. It reduces pollution, eases traffic congestion, and helps our communities thrive. In cities, suburbs, and rural America, public transit provides vital connections to jobs, education, medical care, and our larger communities. Help us keep America moving.

  • A Thanksgiving “Thank You” for Public Transit

    27 Nov 2019


    On Thanksgiving, Americans around the country give thanks—for their health and happiness, for their families and loved ones, for their communities and nation. Today, Voices for Public Transit wants to offer two very big Thank You’s.

    We want to first thank every member of our nationwide community of public transit advocates. Your committed voices are helping to protect and strengthen American public transportation—for today and the future.

    And we want to give a giant shout-out of thanks to the people who plan, build, operate, and maintain our public transportation systems. We talk a lot about the infrastructure of public transit, but without the people none of us would get very far.




    Share Your Thanks

    Thousands of transit employees are working this holiday season so we can travel safely and connect with family and friends. Whenever you have a chance, please say “Thank You” to the people who get us where we need to go all year round.

    You can also voice your thanks by sharing our “Thank You” GIF (pictured above) on Twitter and Facebook.

     Have a safe and joyful Thanksgiving!

     


  • Flash Poll Results: We’re Committed to Solving Problems with Transit

    21 Nov 2019



    Last month for Halloween, we polled Voices for Public Transit advocates to ask, “What’s the scariest problem transit can help address in your area?” We also asked you to rank the importance of increased funding for public transportation, relative to other issues. Here are the results…





    We’re Committed to Expanding the Benefits of Public Transportation

    When it comes to mobility, there’s no question Americans face some big challenges—traffic congestion, costs of car ownership, access, and safety, among others. But we also have a lot to be thankful for. Public transit helps millions of Americans get where they need to go every day, even if they don’t ride public transit personally.

    Our poll also shows an overwhelming commitment to winning increased funding for public transportation. Next year, Voices for Public Transit will call on this commitment to win new transit funding when the current long-term transportation bill—the FAST Act—expires. We’ll also be watching and mobilizing on transit-related ballot initiatives around the country.

    By this time next year, we hope to be thankful for legislation that marks a new era for American public transit.

    Tell Us Why You’re Thankful for Public Transportation

    In the spirit of the holiday season, we want to hear why you’re thankful for public transportation. How do public transportation and transit employees make a difference in your life? Share your answers on the Voices for Public Transit website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.


  • THANK YOU! Advocacy Helps Protect Transit Funding

    13 Nov 2019


    We have great news! On October 31, the U.S. Senate passed the Jones-McSally Amendment to prevent a $1.2 billion cut to fiscal year 2020 funding for public transportation.

    Thanks to your efforts to contact your Senators, this legislation passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 82-11.

    Advocacy Helps Win the Day

    If the Senate had rejected the Jones-McSally Amendment, every transit system throughout the nation would have faced a 12 percent across-the-board cut. This cut would have hurt millions of Americans by reducing travel options that connect people to work, school, medical care, and other services affordably and reliably.

    Voices for Public Transit advocates from around the country sprang into action when the threat of funding cuts arose. A supermajority of Senators across the political spectrum listened and responded by voting to support transit funding.

    We want to shout out a big “THANK YOU!” to every Voices for Public Transit advocate who reached out to their Senators on this critical issue.

    Looking Ahead

    The FAST Act expires next year. We need to start urging Congress now to make sure we don’t slide back into old, bad habits of kicking the can down the road a few months at a time. We should never again have to face years of short-term funding. That approach limits our communities’ and regions’ ability to keep our existing transportation infrastructure working efficiently, let alone plan, build, and expand into more flexible, modern transit networks that can better meet today’s transportation needs.

    To help achieve a new long-term transportation bill in 2020, advocacy will be as important as ever—it may even be more important than it was in 2015, given our current political gridlock.

    Next year, we’ll be calling on the Voices for Public Transit community to tell Congress more investment in public transit is what we need to get America where we want to go.

  • The Community Spirit of Public Transit

    24 Oct 2019


    Throughout October, we’ve been imagining how scary our world would be without public transit. We’ve imagined a future with more polluted air and more clogged roads.

    Today, we envision something even more frightening—the decay of community spirit itself.

    Riding Together

    When we stand up to support investment in public transportation, we have facts and figures on our side. We know that $1 invested in transit pays off with $4 in economic returns. We know that transit saves our nation 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline per year. We know traveling by public transportation is 10 times safer per mile than traveling by automobile.

    But the value of transit goes even further. When we ride together, we build community.

    Just about every regular transit rider has seen acts of kindness on buses and rail. The young skateboarder who gives up his seat for an older woman and her shopping cart. The businessman who helps a mother pick up her baby’s dropped bottle. The multi-modal cyclist who helps a disabled vet carry his walker onto the bus.

    Moments like these happen every day on transit. And they remind us that we’re all in this life—and this nation—together, even if we never know each other’s names. There are already so many things that tear us apart. It would be chilling to see our community spirit evaporate even further without public transportation to help bring us into contact with people we might not otherwise get the chance to encounter.

    Caring for the Community

    Even if we don’t ride personally, transit is also one of the ways we take care of each other.

    Transit provides mobility to people who otherwise might not be able to get around. Millions of young people, older Americans, people with disabilities, and those who don’t have access to a car find a lifeline in public transportation.

    Public transportation supports public health and greater quality of life. Work and school are within reach for many because of public transportation. And access to transportation—including public transit—is a leading factor in helping Americans access opportunity and improve their standard of living, reducing the strain on public safety net programs.

    Congress has the power to support communities in every state by increasing its support of public transportation. In this downright frightening era of growing division and income inequality in America, now is the time for Congress to renew its commitment to public transportation for communities of all sizes.

    Do You Have an Uplifting Transit Story?

    This month, we’ve already asked you for scary stories about what a world without transit could mean. Now we want to hear your best, most uplifting stories about how transit helps people in your community. Share your experience on the Voices for Public Transit website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

  • Public Transit Fights the Specter of Traffic

    22 Oct 2019


    Traffic congestion can be downright terrifying—not just around Halloween, but all year long. And if we lived in a world without public transportation, the scourge of traffic would be even worse.

    Traffic’s Economic Toll
    Even if you don’t ride transit, you benefit because it helps control traffic by lowering the number of cars on the road. Even so, traffic congestion is a huge drain on our nation’s economy.

    According to one study, congestion cost the U.S. economy $305 billion in 2017. This figure includes lost worker productivity, wasted fuel, and the increased cost for moving goods through congested areas.

    It’s safe to say, in a world without public transportation, the economic impact of traffic would be even more severe.

    Environmental Consequences
    Here’s another scary fact about traffic congestion: It increases emissions and lowers air quality. In many areas, vehicle emissions are the primary source of air pollution—and more cars stuck in traffic for longer periods of time makes air pollution worse .

    A study from the Harvard School of Public Health even links air pollution from traffic congestion to premature death. 

    Public transit helps fight traffic and the pollution it causes. But in a world without transit, we would have dirtier, more unhealthy air—and more emissions contributing to climate change.

    The Horror of Being Stuck in Traffic
    It’s fair to say that many people bear traffic jams with good humor. Some commuters enjoy passing the time by listening to podcasts, audio books, or music.

    But for many Americans, traffic adds stress. Long commutes—made longer by traffic—are more stressful, according to one study. Researchers also found that driving is more stressful than other forms of transportation. 

    In a world without transit, millions more Americans would likely be sitting alone in private cars, isolated and stuck in traffic. This isolation and stress undermine public health. On the other hand, transit makes for healthier communities by offering a less stressful form of transportation and by bringing people together.

    Congress has the power to help fight traffic congestion and its terrible impacts by investing in public transportation. Will lawmakers help repel the traffic monster that wreaks havoc on American transportation?

    Do You Have a Traffic Horror Story?

    What’s the worst traffic jam you were ever stuck in? How would public transit have helped? Share your story on the Voices for Public Transit website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed.

  • Advocate Spotlight

    Matt Morrison

    Taking transit eliminates the stresses, expenses and hassles of driving, while contributing to my community economically. I’m able to use my time commuting productively, whether by working on my laptop or gaining new skills via podcast.

    Read More

  • Share Your Experience

    Tell us why you support investments in public transportation for your community.

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