A Green New Deal for Transportation

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The transportation sector is the single largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States, contributing to 29% of the nation’s total emissions.1 The majority of these emissions come from driving. The reality is, we have become far too reliant on cars. We need a Green New The Federal Highway Act of 1956 led to the growth of the highway system and, by linking gas taxes to the Federal Highway Trust Fund, allowed the government to subsidize highways. It also allowed state and federal highway departments to purposefully choose to build roads through African American neighborhoods, using language such as blight removal, as ways to justify the action.2 This Act guaranteed a stream of money, providing 90% of the funding used to build the interstate highway system. Meanwhile, as highway construction benefitted from public funds, regional transit systems and railroads remained mostly reliant on private investment.

To this day, while Congress continues funneling 80% of federal transportation funds into highways, only 20% is allocated for public transit.3 This imbalance continues to tilt policymakers and politicians toward favoring automobiles as the dominant mode of transit over multi-passenger transportation systems. It also has encouraged land use planning and urban design practices to give preference to cars. In order to shift this narrative, it is necessary to fund alternative modes of travel by subsidizing public transit, instead of cars, and by investing in Complete Streets projects that ensure safe and connected bicycle and pedestrian networks.

Imagine cities where parking spaces were scarce but rapid transit buses were abundant. Today, parking is free for 99% of all automobile trips in the U.S. because cities have been planned around minimum parking requirements.4 The endless quest to satisfy peak demand for free parking uses precious city space. The result is available and low-cost parking but great societal cost. As 4