It's About Frakking Time

As the Wall Street Journal tells us ...

Momentum is building in Congress to increase funding for public transportation as transit agencies struggle to accommodate increased demand from Americans seeking to escape high gas prices.

...

On Monday, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said a measure that would provide as much as $2 billion in grants and other funding for public transportation appears likely to be included in energy legislation that could be voted on next week.

...

The legislative push comes as high gas prices are spurring Americans to drive less and use public transportation more. Data being released Tuesday by the American Public Transportation Association show the number of riders on mass-transit systems is growing at an accelerating clip. After rising 2.5% in 2007 from 2006, public-transportation use increased 3.4% in the first quarter of 2008 from the same period a year earlier, and 5.2% in the April-to-June period.

XX Sean's take: Getting people to migrate from private to public transport is a big part of the battle to secure America's energy future. I can tell you that here in Palm Beach County, public transport sucks -- even in the more built-up metropolitan areas. When I took my family to Denver on vacation recently, we were amazed by how good their public transport is.

I'm not suggesting that public transport is for everyone. Far from it. But the more people use public transport, the more gasoline there will be for people who choose to keep driving their own vehicles. Otherwise, we may ALL have to start using public transport as the price of gasoline goes through the roof.

By the way, I saw a pretty neat photo of the public transport of the future, LOL ...

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