No expenditure of taxpayer money gets more “bang for the back” than investment in public transportation.
By partnering with the private sector to create new, cleaner, and more efficient public transportation, government investment can create millions of new sustainable jobs, save billions of dollars in wasted fuel and lost time, and save further billions by reducing pollution and automobile accidents, and their related heath care costs.
At the same time, investment in new, cleaner, and more efficient public transportation promotes both the environmental and the security interests of the United States by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
In California, we do not need more toll roads that benefit only the few who can afford to ride them and that fail to reduce congestion or return the taxpayers’ investment.
In contrast, investment in public transportation provides immediate economic benefits and the opportunity for our state to once again become a world leader in new technology and energy efficiency that will create new jobs and new industries now and in the future.
Investment in high speed rail in California will create more than more than 600,000 new private sector construction-related jobs to build the system and an additional 450,000 permanent jobs statewide once the system is fully built. A significant percentage of these jobs will be right here in Orange County.
The positive effects on our state and local economy will be nearly immediate – in regard to both job creation and economic stimulus. The long term benefit will be even more significant in creating sustainable jobs, protecting our environment, achieving energy independence, cutting health care costs, and reducing congestion.
Investment in public transportation is an investment in California’s future.
Melissa Fox is a candidate for the California Assembly in the 70th Assembly District
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