Thinking Outside the Bus

Abstract

Thinking Outside the Bus H I R O Y U K I I S E K I , M I C H A E L S M A R T, B R I A N D . T AY L O R , A N D A L L I S O N Y O H I N AN ERA OF STRETCHED TAX REVENUES , SHRINKING PUBLIC SECTOR BUDGETS , and partisan debates over the appropriate role and scale of government, invest- ments in public transit systems have been increasing. While the Great Recession has recently squeezed many transit operating budgets, overall public capital and operating subsidies of transit systems have grown dramatically over the past decade. Why have transit expenditures grown when so many other facets of public expenditure have shrunk? Concerned with chronic traffic congestion, sprawl, and the environmental sustainability of car-centered transportation, officials at all levels of government have shifted urban transportation priorities from increasing road capacity to increasing transit capacity, especially in the biggest metropolitan areas. We have, in other words, bet heavily on public transit to help us solve pressing social and environmental problems. ➢ Hiroyuki Iseki is Assistant Professor of Urban Studies and Planning in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and Research Faculty for the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education at the University of Maryland, College Park (hiseki@umd.edu). Michael Smart is Postdoctoral Scholar at the Institute of Transportation Studies in the Luskin School of Public A ffairs at the University of California, L os Angeles (msmart@ucla.edu). Brian D. Taylor is Professor of Urban Planning, Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies, and Director of the L ewis Center for Regional Policy Studies in the Luskin School of Public A ffairs at the University of California, L os Angeles (btaylor@ucla.edu). Allison Yoh is Associate Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies and Associate Director of the L ewis Center for Regional Policy Studies in the Luskin School of Public A ffairs at the University of California, L os Angeles (ayoh@ucla.edu). A C C E S S NUMBER 40, SPRING 2012