Mass Transit Affirmative 1AC
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- Increased investment is key to revitalize public transit
2AC AnswersInherency ExtAdditional federal investment is necessary to meet future public transportation capital needsAPTA, 12’ (American Public Transportation Association, Potential Impact of Gasoline Price Increases on US Public Transportation Ridership, 2011-2012, March 14 2012 www.apta.com) Meeting the additional demands for public transportation service in the short-term as well as the continuing long-term, will require more public transportation choices and an investment in new capacity. A comprehensive 2008 Cambridge Systematics report, “State and National Public Transportation Needs Analysis,” concluded that $59.2 billion annually is needed to address future public transportation capital needs.39 And certain segments of the population will have special needs, as is documented in “Funding the Public Transportation Needs of an Aging Population” which: a) identifies the range of actions that will be needed to expand mobility options for older people, including accessible public transportation services; b) quantifies the demand for these public transportation services; and c) estimates the funding that will be needed to provide them.40 Furthermore, Generation Y, those between 20 and 30, prefer areas that are transit rich. Capturing these preferences will be critical to economic vitality through 2050.41 We must also be prepared to address immediate capacity issues. In 2008, 85 percent of transit agencies reported experiencing capacity constraints on parts of their systems. Of those agencies, 63 percent experienced capacity constraints during peak periods, 49 percent experienced capacity constraints on short segments of high ridership routes, 13 percent on numerous routes, and 8 percent experienced during off-peak hours.42 Over one-half of the systems operated service that was crowded beyond their local service standards, despite 48 percent of agencies adding service. Thirty-nine percent reported that overcrowded conditions were such that they were turning away passengers. Little has been done to correct this situation. Federal funding for public transit has been nearly stable since 2009. In 2011, 71 percent of transit agencies reported flat or decreased local government financial assistance and 83 percent reported flat or decreased state financial assistance.43 During 2011, 54 percent of larger systems and 30 percent of other systems implemented or approved for implementation a transfer of funds from capital to operations to meet their budget needs. Fifty-eight percent of large systems and 38 percent of other systems implemented or approved implementation of the use of reserves to meet budget needs. These are not long-term strategies that prepare agencies to meet ridership demands resulting from increased motor gasoline prices and other forces that are leading Americans to chose public transportation as their travel mode. Congress is currently considering long-term surface transportation authorization bills. The new authorization must recognize that immediate and long-term transportation options are critical, and should provide necessary investments to add immediate capacity to transit to provide greater financial security to Americans. Increased investment is key to revitalize public transitFitzgerald et.al. ’10- professor and director of the graduate program in Law, Policy and Society and a Senior Research Fellow at the Kitty and Michael Kukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University (Joan, Granquist, Khatiwada, McLaughlin, Renner, “Reviving the U.S. Rail and Transit Industry: Investments and Job Creation”, WorldWatch Institute The United States needs to dramatically increase its investment in public transit infrastructure in order to build a system that boosts ridership and thereby helps to reduce congestion in metropolitan areas, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and create much-needed manufacturing jobs. The current level of federal spending—the so-called “Business-as-Usual” scenario—is unlikely to get us there. However, two other investment scenarios over and above current spending can be useful to guide estimates of potential job creation in rail and bus manufacturing. These are: a scenario of increased domestic investment, and a scenario of inter- national competitiveness. Funding for Mass transit will have to keep up with increased demand. Arizona PIRG Education Fund, The Arizona PIRG Education Fund conducts research and public education on behalf of Arizona’s consumers and the public interest, March 2009, “Why and How to Fund Public Transportation”, http://www.uspirgedfund.org/reports/usp/why-and-how-fund-public-transportation YL There are a number of reasons that public transportation will require growing levels of support in the future.25 One reason transit needs will grow is the many ongoing trends compounding traffic congestion problems. Arizona’s population is expected to reach over 10 million people in 25 years. As Arizona’s population increases, the number of cars on the road will increase and people will drive more miles in their vehicles. Growing areas that face increasing traffic and parking problems will find transit attractive if financing and rights of way can be obtained. Rising gas prices also make transit more attractive because of greater fuel efficiency compared to cars and trucks. Although economic conditions can cause a temporary drop in the price of oil, the long term trend of price increases is expected to continue. Indeed, it appears that the era of “cheap oil” may well be over. Oil prices have increased during the
thirds of our petroleum demand and almost 80 percent of growth in recent decades. The world is meanwhile having an increasingly difficult time producing enough oil to satisfy rising demand. Regardless of whether world-wide production of oil “peaks” in the near future, the cost of producing and refining oil will increase as proven reserves are depleted and extraction companies unconventional supplies such as lower-quality crude and tar sands.
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