Public Interest
Advocates Hope Decision Will Lead to Support for Other Stalled Transit
Projects Nationwide
Washington DC – Federal
transportation officials endorsed the Dulles Metrorail extension today, finally
recognizing the oil and gas savings and the CO2 reduction benefits that
will be realized from expansion of public transportation in the region. US PIRG quantified these benefits in A Better Way to Go, a nationwide report
that was released with Mayor Fenty and other supporters at a DC event to boost
the project earlier this year.
According to the report, in
2006 the DC Metro saved close to 240 million gallons of oil that would have
otherwise been used for transportation in the DC area, making it the second
most energy efficient public transportation system in the country. Also, with gas predicted to reach $4 a gallon
this summer, US PIRG projects that DC Metro will save residents almost a
billion dollars this year that would have otherwise been spent at the pumps.
“With rising gas prices and
increasing congestion projected for the future, we can’t afford not to invest
in popular projects like the Dulles Extension that meet our country’s long-term
needs,” said US PIRG staff attorney John Krieger.
The proposed 23.5-mile Dulles
Corridor Metrorail Project would serve as a link between Metro’s existing
106-mile Metrorail system and service through Tysons Corner to Washington
Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County, serving one of the district’s
fastest growing and most congested corridors.
Public opinion polls show that
53 percent of commuters would prefer to use more public transportation if it
were available near their home and workplace. An overwhelming majority of the
public, seventy-five percent, tell pollsters that transit is the best way to
fight traffic congestion.
“There are hundreds of good projects across the
country waiting for a federal commitment,” said Krieger, “we hope that today’s
decision will be the first of many, as the administration begins to realize the
importance of clean, efficient public transportation as a solution to our
country’s mounting transportation challenges.”
Nationally, transit saves 3.4 billion gallons of oil
each year, prevents 541 million hours of traffic delay and reduces global
warming pollution by 26 million tons. Demand for public transportation is
booming nationally, with transit trips far outpacing the growth of auto miles
or population since 1995.
