From: ndallen@r-node.gts.org (Nigel Allen)
Subject: Transit association responds to highway advocates
Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 07:19:54 GMT

Here is a press release from the American Public Transit Association.

 Statement on Latest Road Information Program Report
 To: National Desk, Transportation Writer
 Contact: Chip Bishop of the American Public Transit Association,
          202-898-4114

   WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 -- Following is a statement
of Jack R. Gilstrap, executive vice president of the American Public
Transit Association, on the latest Road Information Program report:

   In its latest report, The Road Information Program repeats its
wrong-headed idea of mobility: more roads for more cars.
   More than anything else, it is a sign that some in the highway
crowd are starting to panic at the thought that local officials in
many places are choosing transit improvements over new roads.
   Increasingly, state and local leaders are using the flexibility
that Congress gave them in ISTEA to choose a new generation of bus
and rail alternatives to meet their transportation needs.  Just
recently, more than $300 million in flexible ISTEA funds were
granted for 36 local transit project improvements.
   It is important to recall the recent warning from
environmentalists at the World Resources Institute who said, "The
quest for personal mobility may now be interfering with the good
life instead of contributing to it.  (The) explosive growth in
driving is a major factor in growing traffic jams, more accidents,
fuel waste, environmental damage, increasing oil imports and other
major problems that are taking a heavy toll on the nation."
   As President-elect Clinton and a new Congress plan their
programs to revive the economy, we should keep in mind the findings
of Bates College Economist David Alan Aschauer whose 1991 study
concluded, "Within the broad category of transportation spending
the evidence indicates that public transit spending carries more
potential to stimulate economic growth than does highway spending."
   We intend to undertake a thorough analysis of the way The Road
Information Program has used its numbers.  For now, we remind the
highway interests that the debate over the proper use of federal
transportation aid should not be a question of one mode of travel
versus another.  It should be about encouraging states and
communities to make sound transportation decisions that contribute
to the nation's economic and environmental well-being.
   We hope this report does not lead to an escalation of the
highways versus transit rhetoric and prompt further discussion of
issues such as hidden subsidies for auto use and safety on the
highway.  Rather, all modes of surface transportation ought to be
working together at this critical time in Washington to ensure that
all of our unmet needs are addressed through full funding of ISTEA
and a national program to rebuild America's infrastructure.
   APTA is the international association of operating tRc%sit
authorities, their suppliers and other advocates of improved
transit service. For further information and interviews, contact Chip Bishop of
APTA at 202-898-4114.
 -30-
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