Quality rapid transit offers far more than just a way to get around. Transit also provides:
Global Warming Prevention
Transit emits half as much global warming-inducing carbon dioxide per mile compared to automobile use.
Cleaner Air, Healthier Kids
Transit decreases car travel, thus decreasing air pollution from vehicles. Air pollution exacerbates asthma and other diseases. A 22% decrease in auto use during the 1996 Olympic Games led to a 44% decrease in asthma-related medical visits.
Urban Revitalization
Because many people prefer to live, work, shop and play near transit stations, transit lines often inspire billions of dollars of private investment in condos, shops, restaurants and more.
Job Creation
Many rapid transit projects create over 10,000 jobs – not only direct construction and transit operation jobs but also jobs from new development built along transit lines.
Economic Development
Every dollar invested in public transit returns on average six dollars in local economic activity.
Improved Independence for Seniors, Teens, and the Disabled
Transit improves mobility for the 25% of the population who are unable to drive, allowing them more independence and less reliance on others for their everyday transportation needs.
Reduced Traffic Fatalities
Transit is one of the most effective ways of reducing traffic accidents and fatalities, by providing teens and seniors other transportation options.
Poverty Alleviation
Transportation is the second largest expenditure in most households. Detroiters have the highest transportation costs in the country. Transit can save families thousands of dollars a year, leaving more money available for housing, food, education, and other critical needs.
Decreased Traffic Congestion
Shifting a small portion of commuters off of roads and highways onto transit can significantly decrease traffic congestion. This means less wasted time and gas for non-transit users and less need for expensive road and highway expansions.
National Security through Greater Energy Independence
If Americans used public transit for 10% of daily travel needs, as Europeans do, the United States would reduce its dependence on oil imported from the Persian Gulf by more than 40%.
Farmland Preservation
Transit encourages greater development in the urban core and inner suburbs, thus decreasing development pressure on farmlands on the suburban fringes.
Healthier Living through Physical Activity
Not only do people normally walk a few blocks to and from transit stations, but transit encourages more compact, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods that encourage physical activity.
Reduced Health Care Costs
Medicare and Medicaid spend over $3.5 billion a year to provide ambulance service for non-emergency medical service. Improved transit offers a much cheaper alternative.