In particular, as employment centers are dispersed more widely as the region grows, access to jobs may become difficult for some low-income citizens. There are currently several job access programs that involve cooperative efforts between employers and transit agencies. The impact of the taxes used to fund the RTA Plan should also be of major concern. Although the state law that established the RTA requires equity considerations to be used in selecting funding sources, there is no evidence that the RTA has done this. We will deal with the tax equity issue in a future lead story.
Private vehicles are a major source of air pollution.
Again, RTA documents imply that transit will solve the problem. This is an inaccurate conclusion for several reasons. The number of trips in private vehicles will continue to grow and dominate all trips. Currently, only 4 percent of all motorized trips in the region are by transit. The PSRC estimates that this figure will increase to just 6 percent in 2020 under the MTP that includes the RTA Plan.