The Problem

For decades the federal and state dollars that support America’s roads, highways and public transit systems have been spent in ways that push growth away from urban areas and neglect the transportation needs of city dwellers, many of them low income and people of color. For the millions of Americans who live in cities, public transportation is a primary means of travel. Cutbacks in mass transit funding, along with increasing fares, have reduced access to public transit and with it access to jobs and social services. Despite the demonstrated need for reasonably priced public transit, the bulk of federal funding goes to roadbuilding rather than transit—between 1956 and 1995, road projects received over $205 billion in funding while mass transit received roughly $50 billion between the mid 1960s and 1995. In turn, this funding focus on roadbuilding, much of it in urban fringe areas, has led to disproportionate job growth in suburban areas—jobs that many urban residents are unable to reach due to lack of transportation.

Who Is Affected

People of color account for nearly 60 percent of mass transit users nationwide. In urban areas with populations of less than one million, public transit passengers have an average annual income of less than $15,000. In addition, Americans spend more on transportation than they do on any other household expense except housing, and the nation’s poorest families spend more than 40 percent of their take home pay on transportation.

The focus of roadbuilding dollars on suburban growth has led to job creation in the suburbs at the expense of jobs in urban areas—according to the Federal Transit Administration, two-thirds of all new jobs are in the suburbs. This situation forces many low income workers to buy cars—at the expense of household savings that could otherwise go towards home ownership, education or other investments. According to the Surface Transportation Policy Project, the poorest fifth of American families, earning less than $13,060 per year, pay an average of 42 percent of their income on the purchase, maintenance and operation of cars.

What You Can Do

Find out more about transportation issues in your community. Many cities have groups that are working to improve access to public transit. Networks and coalitions such as the Transportation Equity Network and the Surface Transporation Policy Project can point you towards groups in your city or region that are working on transportation equity issues.

Find out about state and federal transportation legislation and funding and encourage your elected officials to support efforts to build a more equitable transportation system for our cities. Good sources of information on federal legislation include the Surface Transportation Policy Project and Environmental Defense.

Find out where your elected officials stand on transportation equity issues by attending town hall meetings and writing them letters. You can also look for information from national and state groups that track the environmental voting records of elected officials such as the League of Conservation Voters or your state conservation voter league.

Register to vote and vote for the candidates that will work for a more equitable transportation system for your community.

Other Resources

The website for the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University contains a wealth of information on transportation equity issues.