20 Reasons to Consider Public Transit: Facts and Figures

20 Reasons to Consider Public Transit: Facts and Figures

The next time you get in your vehicle you might want to consider the environmental impacts and start thinking about public transit. Consider the facts below:

1. From 2000 to 2002, the number of recorded high-ozone days increased 18.5 percent.
2. A regular rush-hour driver wastes an average of 99 gallons of gasoline each year.
3. Drivers in one-third of U.S. cities spend more than 40 hours a year in stopped or slow-moving traffic.
4. The average annual cost of the time lost in rush hour traffic is $1,160 per person.
5. Transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada, accounting for about 25% of Canada's total emissions in 1997.
6. In 2004, New Jersey had 600,000 more registered vehicles than drivers.
7. In 2000, Canadian consumers spent 36 percent of retail spending on motor vehicles, gasoline, parts and services.
8. American families spend 18 percent of their household budgets on transportation, making it the second largest household expenditure after housing (2004).
9. The annual cost of driving a single-occupant vehicle is between $4,826 (for a small car) and $9,685 (for a large car), depending upon mileage. The annual average cost for public transportation for one adult ranges from $200 to $2,000, depending upon services used.
10. In Canada, the annual average amount of money needed to own and operate a car is approximately 20 percent of average household income (over $9000/yr).
11. Public transportation is twice as fuel-efficient as private automobiles, sport-utility vehicles, and light trucks.
12. From 1985 to 2001, the percentage of people driving to work alone increased by 5.8 percent to represent 78.2 percent of all means of commuting.
13. From 1985-2001, the percentage of carpooling declined by 4.4 percent and public transportation declined by 0.4 percent.
14. In rush hour, one 40-foot bus can take the place of 21 cars.
15. The National Safety Council (U.S.) estimates that riding the bus is over 170 times safer than an automobile.
16. If one in ten Americans regularly used transit, reliance on foreign oil could decline by more than 40 percent.
17. If one in five Americans used transit daily, carbon monoxide pollution would decrease by more than all the emissions from the entire chemical manufacturing industry and all metal processing plants in the U.S.
18. Americans living in transit-intensive areas save $22 billion each year by using public transportation
19. Public transportation generates 95% less carbon monoxide than private vehicles.
20. Public transportation saves more than 855 million gallons of gasoline, which is equivalent to the energy used to heat, cool, and operate one-fourth of all American homes annually.

Socyberty 4/30/08 1:04 PM