[sustran] Re: Transportation Cost Analysis Summary

[Todd Litman]

At 01:39 PM 6/15/99 -0400, Eric Bruun wrote:
>One question, though. At the APTA conference session on equity and
>environmental justice in Toronto, a BART board
>member asked if there were any studies showing the equity implications
>of various transit funding methods. I mentioned your work, but several
>people scoffed, saying you were only concerned with auto versus transit.
>Are they right, or am I right?  Eric 

They couldn't be farther from the truth. My goal is to broaden the debate
beyond cars vs. transit to recognize a wider range of options (TDM,
non-motorized transport, pricing incentives, land use reform), and to
incorporate issues such as equity, as well as a full range of economic,
social and environmental impacts. See the reports at our website including:

*  Evaluating Transportation Equity
*  Defining and Quantifying Public Transit Benefits
*  Potential TDM Strategies
*  Guide to Calculating TDM Benefits


The first two papers listed above specifically discuss the equity of
transit funding. An important point is that although automobile and public
transit are subsidized about the same per passenger-mile (automobile
subsidies include free parking, subsidized roads and traffic services, and
uncompensated accident and environmental impacts, while transit also
recieves direct financial subsidies), transit dependent users travel far
less per year than an average driver. As a result, the average driver
recieves much more total subsidy per year than the average transit
dependent person. The inequity is even greater for people who rely
primarily on non-motorized modes (walking and cycling).

Hopefully, by posting these reports at our website there will be more
opportunity for people to see for themselves the kind of research our
institute performs, and the resources we can provide.

Sincerely,

Todd Litman, Director
Victoria Transport Policy Institute
"Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
1250 Rudlin Street
Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada
Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560
E-mail:  litman at islandnet.com
Website: http://www.islandnet.com/~litman