Do enough people benefit from public transportation considering the amount of money poured into those politically-driven endeavors? Peter Van Doren joins us this week to break down this issue. 

The percentage of people who use public transit on a daily basis is higher, for obvious reasons, in urban areas. However, even in a city like Washington, D.C., only “700,000 people use the public metro rail system in comparison to the 5 million who commute downtown by car.” Van Doren argues that mass transit spending grew the most under the Nixon presidency because it made the most political sense. Unfortunately, that mindset tends to persist today.

How would you define public transit? What does all the money we spend on public transit actually do? Why are there always more calls for public transit? Why are we fixated on public transit options like trains? Why is there a negative connotation associated with public buses?

Further Reading:

Report: 98 Percent Of U.S. Commuters Favor Public Transportation For Others, from the Onion

The Urban Transportation System: Politics and Policy Innovation, written by Alan A. Altshuler

Regulation Magazine

Related Content:

Transportation, Land Use, and Freedom, Free Thoughts Episode

Who will build the roads?, Free Thoughts Episode

Ride-Sharing Services Aren’t a Problem, They’re a Solution, written by Aeon Skoble

Uncle Sam, the Monopoly Man: Paying for Roads, written by William Wooldridge

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