One of the big transportation controversies is roads vs. transit. There is a tendency for people who drive to demand the bulk of tranportation funds be spent on better streets and highways and less on mass transit. There is a tendency for another group of people to complain that too much money is being spent on roads and not enough on mass transit.

The Arguments for Roads

There is too much congestion — It is too difficult and takes too long to drive to work (or wherever) because of all the congestion and traffic jams. We need major improvements to the road system.

Why should I have to pay taxes on mass transit that I will never use? — I am willing to pay taxes on roads because I drive, but why should my taxes be used for transit? I’m never going to take a bus. Why should I subsidize other people who take transit. The people who use transit should pay their own way.

Arguments for Mass Transit

There is too much congestion — We need better mass transit so that more people will use it, taking some traffic off the roads.

We don’t need more roads — More roads mean more cars; therefore more pollution, harm to the environment, global warming, and other nasty things.

People will save money and time by using mass transit — It will cost less for gas, insurance, and auto maintenance if they use mass transit instead.