Miss the train? If your neighborhood is out of the transit loop, you can work to change that. Cars don't have a lock on the American Dream. In fact, 100 years ago the road to prosperity was a streetcar line. The average urban dweller rode public transportation 250 times a year and the US led the world in the construction and use of mass transit.

Today a very small 1% of US passenger travel, and just 5% of commuting, is on public transit. Even at this level it's three times as efficient per passenger mile as your SUV. Reinvesting in transit is one of the most cost-effective ways to address the climate crisis. Access to convenient and reliable public transit has to be dramatically improved in cities and towns nationwide. The next time you talk with an elected official-any elected official-make the case.

Here are some talking points to get you started:

  • Transit is an investment in the future. It connects communities, jobs, and businesses and builds value in the neighborhoods that it serves. For every taxpayer dollar invested in public transportation we get $6 back. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit is a 45 mile rail system built over the last two decades and surrounding neighborhoods with good access have enjoyed greater prosperity. Between 1997 and 2001 suburban commercial real estate near DART stations increased in value 24.7%, while those without rail service rose only 11.5%. Residences near the stations increased in value 32.1%, but only 19.5% for properties further away. Not surprisingly, DART is planning to double in size.
  • Transit is good for business. Companies linked in to public transportation have fewer problems with absenteeism and keeping employees. Transit also reduces congestion, allowing for more on-time deliveries and lower transportation costs for goods.
  • Transit is a competitive upgrade. More than 80% of recent ballot initiatives funding transit development have passed; including those raising taxes. New stations are slated at 630 new sites in 15 different regional systems. And while 30% of homeowners want to live near transit, only 2% of new homes are being built there. Demand for housing near transit is projected to grow from 6 million to more than 16 million households by 2030.
  • Public transportation puts money in the pockets of you and your neighbors. 19ยข out of every dollar is spent on transportation, and almost entirely on automobiles. Families who live far from transit spend an average of 25% of their household budget on transportation, while families near transit spend just 9%. Transit users can save anywhere from $200 to $4500 on fuel costs alone. If riders can ditch a car altogether, they can save another $6000 to $11,400.
  • If you build it they will come. Transit investment, particularly rail stations, creates an attractive investment environment. In Kenosha, Wisconsin, a 2 mile streetcar line was built connecting its downtown to the waterfront at a cost of $6.2 million. The business community responded by investing $150 million.
  • Oh, we got so distracted by all the money that we almost forgot: Transit is one of the most cost effective solutions available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Transit riders already save 8.2 million tons in CO2 emissions compared to if they drove. If Americans could use transit for just 10% of our travel, we could cut emissions by 82 million tons. That would take us a valuable part of the way toward the reductions needed to solve the climate crisis. Transit also encourages more compact development, which will pay increasing dividends of greenhouse gas savings for decades to come.

So demand government money. While the balance has been shifting slowly over the last decade, transit still gets a small share of both federal and state transportation dollars compared to highway spending. Tell your leaders that you want to see new transit investment as a national priority for energy security, to reduce congestion, and as a basic tool to fight climate change.

And don't forget your local authorities. Most municipalities have a transportation department and they need to get on board as well. Ask for an appointment to the board, then look upward. Transit systems are almost always better if they serve a region instead of a single community. If you have transit already, form a local alliance of transit users to advocate for improvements.