So if you are supportive of increased funding on transit and infrastructure you might want to check it out.

I just discovered a new report put out by Reconnecting America. Demand for transit has been growing and getting to be more politically successful – which I hadn’t anticipated.  Maybe its just my social circle but most people I know still seem to be grumbling about the light rail here in the Twin Cities.

The demand for transit in the U.S. has never been greater, with ridership at its highest levels in 50 years and almost 400 new rail, streetcar and bus rapid transit projects proposed in large and small regions from Massachusetts to Hawaii, according to a new report by Reconnecting America. Americans took 10.1 billion trips on transit in 2007, saving 1.4 billions of gallons of gasoline — the equivalent of a supertanker leaving the Middle East every 11 days.

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 Ridership figures are up 32 percent over 1995, more than double the rate of population growth, and greater than the 24 percent increase in miles traveled by automobile. Auto use actually declined by 3 percent in the second quarter of 2008, while transit ridership increased 5.2 percent.

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 Voters approved 70 percent of transportation-funding ballot measures between 2000 and 2005,(7) indicating huge public support for transit construction. 

Also, transportation seem to be growing as a percentage of people’s expenses.  Especially in places where the options are mostly limited to cars.

Transportation is the second highest household expense after the rent or mortgage.  In auto dependent regions such as Atlanta and Detroit working families who make less than $50,000 a year now spend more on transportation than they do on housing.  The American Public Transportation Association tracks how much people can save by using public transit instead of driving.  The most recent analysis, released Oct. 6, 2008, showed an average savings of $9,499 a year.  A 2007 study by the Center for Transit Oriented Development shows that households living in neighborhoods near transit spend 16% less on transportation than families who live in auto-oriented communities.

This story  in the Denver Post indicates that homes near light rail stations in the Denver area are growing in value while the value of all the other homes are declining:

Homes near light-rail stations along the southeast line, which opened in November 2006, have increased by an average of nearly 4 percent over the past two years, according to an analysis by Your Castle Real Estate. But the rest of the Denver market declined an average of 7.5 percent.

 ”I know that it’s always been a good neighborhood, but I didn’t think it was like that,” said Humphrey, who doesn’t drive and frequently uses public transportation.

 The closer a home is to the station, the more its value increases, according to the Your Castle analysis. Homes less than a half-mile from a station increased an average of 17.6 percent, while those 1 1/2 to 2 miles away increased just 0.1 percent on average. The data varied widely among stations, however.

 Under its FasTracks program, the Regional Transportation District plans to create six new commuter-rail and light-rail corridors and extend three existing corridors by 2017, potentially creating other pockets where values are driven by proximity to rail.

 In other markets with rail lines, single-family home values have increased anywhere from 2 percent in San Diego to 32 percent in St. Louis, according to data gathered by the Regional Transit District.

So maybe that’s good advice for future home buyers, because it doesn’t look like transit is showing any signs of slowing down.  

And finally, in recent conversations with our resident economics expert, nagasaki, I’ve been reminded that during a recession, the government should run a deficit and continue to spend money – so maybe we could get some sweet metropolitan light rail systems built in the next 8 years and then start connecting them with HSR lines?  That sounds like a lot of construction jobs that can’t be outsourced and pay good wages.

Disclaimer: I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that there is a proposed LRT corridor near my house in St. Louis Park.  And I don’t know about any of you but I could sure use some juice in my home value right about now.