Map-21 is a highway bill, not a transportation bill, it cuts support for public transit in favor of highway expansion



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Classism Advantage

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Scarcity of inner city transport systems leads to class segregation


Dombroski 5 (Matthew A., Columbia University Law School, J.D., Columbia Law Review, Vol. 105, No. 2 (Mar., 2005), pp. 503-536, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4099316)AH
One result of this urban-to-suburban shift is that residents of the central city, disproportionately minorities and low-income earners, have little convenient access to good jobs, essential services such as medical care, and shopping, much of which has followed higher income residents to the suburbs. Because zoning laws separate residential from commercial districts, the businesses that remain may be out of walking distance, especially for the elderly. Exacerbating this situation is the scarcity of transportation options near low-income areas in many central cities. This lack of transportation not only limits access to local services and shopping, but also isolates low-income communities from more prosperous areas in other parts of the city and beyond. Furthermore, while the highways necessary to connect suburbs and exurbs to the central city occasionally pass through affluent areas, they are more likely to pass through poor minority areas, destroying and dividing neighborhoods and making travel by foot unsafe in the process. Thus, for many poor residents of the central city, safe and quick transportation is only possible with an automobile, meaning that cars have become an unaffordable necessity.

Highways exacerbate class inequality—increasing mass transit is the only cure


Dombroski 5 (Matthew A., Columbia University Law School, J.D., Columbia Law Review, Vol. 105, No. 2 (Mar., 2005), pp. 503-536, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4099316)AH
One obstacle to overcome in establishing an equal protection claim in this context is the ability to prove that the disparate treatment occurs pursuant to a discriminatory purpose.191 But protection against purposeful discrimination does only half the job; the elimination of such purposeful discrimination is illusory if a similar effect can be attained in an intentional but ostensibly neutral manner.192 In the transportation context, one could argue that funding used for roads and mass transit services benefits all equally because none are explicitly denied equal access to these forms of transportation on account of race, gender, or some other protected characteristic. As noted, however, highway construction benefits whites and wealthier people more than it does minorities and those with lower incomes, and even acts to the detriment of protected classes.'93 A transportation scheme that disparately impacts minorities may indeed lack a discriminatory purpose; but it may also be that claim- ants simply lack sufficient evidence to show that an actual discriminatory purpose exists. Griggs v. Duke Power Co. recognized this problem, noting that discrimination is often accomplished through ostensibly neutral means, and as such, is especially dangerous.94 However, several Court cases have established that disparate impact alone is not unconstitutional.195 A disparate impact merely serves as evidence of discriminatory intent.

High costs and limited services cause socio-spatial segregation


Gomide et al No Date (Alexandre, Sabina Leite and Jorge Rebelo, World Bank Urban Transport System in Brazil, “Public Transport and Urban Poverty: A Synthetic Index of Adequate Service”, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTTES/Resources/pt&urban_poverty.pdf) AH
The surveys showed that low-income populations whose monthly earnings are below three minimum salaries and who live in the biggest Brazilian metropolis are being denied access to public transport services — an essential service, according to the Brazilian Constitution. This situation leads to low rates of urban mobility among the poor, causing them serious problems in their journey to work and in their access to opportunities in big centres, mainly work and leisure. According to Gomidc (2003), denying these people access to public transport is one of the factors that causes their socio-spatial segregation and, therefore, creates a barrier to social inclusion.'Ihc results of the field research carried out by Itrans show that the main reasons for the lack of access to public transport that affects low-income populations are: i) the high cost of fares, which is incompatible with users' low income (lack of affordability); ii) the limited offer of services in poor neighbourhoods, especially ( a ) the low-frequency (unavailability of services); and ( b ) the distance to bus stops and terminals (inaccessibility of services). It is worth mentioning that attributes concerning the condition of the vehicles and crew members' attitude, for instance, were not among the main problems pointed out by the groups surveyed. This shows that affordability, availability, and accessibility tend to be more pressing attributes than acceptability, though not more pressing than complaints about crowded vehicles.

Despite alternative causes, transportation inequality is the main cause of social exclusion.


Lewis 11 (David, PhD. and senior vice president for the International Transportation Forum, “Economic Perspectives on Transport and Equality”, pg 26-27, 5/12, http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/jtrc/DiscussionPapers/DP201109.pdf) AH
According to transport scholar Martin Wachs, mobility and access to transportation are two of the most important global economic forces for the alleviation of poverty, inequality and social exclusion. 1 While the degree of empirical strength in this conclusion may be debated, most investigators agree that poverty, inequality and social exclusion are tied to personal mobility and to the accessibility of goods and services. In richer and poorer countries alike, Wachs notes that people with disabilities, women and girls and other disadvantaged people suffer from measurable deficits in nutrition, health care, employment and education. While such deficits reflect an array of simultaneously occurring causes (from poor housing to weak governance), problems traveling and moving goods at affordable cost can rank among them. Recognizing weak transport and energy infrastructure as key constraints to poverty reduction in Africa, the African Development Bank (ADB) has made infrastructure development a cornerstone in its development agenda and promotes private and public sector infrastructure development through the provision of financial and technical resources.

Failure to engage in our discussion of classism further oppresses lower classes


Barone no date (Chuck, Professor of Economics and American Studies at Dickinson College, “The Foundations of Class and Classism”, http://users.dickinson.edu/~barone/ClassFoundations.PDF) AH

In short, the predominant view of America is one of a classless society based on individual meritocracy. However, just as viewing ourselves as a raceless colorblind society, or genderless genderblind society, denies the ugly realities of racism and sexism, so viewing ourselves as a classless and class blind society denies the ugly realities of class and classism. It is ironic that we have been able to manufacture such an image of ourselves in light of the fact that the U.S. has the worse record among industrialized nations of income and wealth inequality, the worse record of class violence, and a long history of class bigotry and prejudice (Puette 1992; Chasin 1997: Ch 5; Bullock 1995). In reality, the U.S. is deeply divided by class presidential protestations to the contrary. Classlessness is a myth, along with the attendant cultural mythology which on the one hand denies the existence of class while at the same time rationalizing economic inequality in individual meritocractic terms. This dominant cultural mythology, masquerading as reality, has resulted in a crippled conceptual framework for understanding class and an impoverished public discourse on class and classism.






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