Want to know what not to do with your state’s stimulus money request?
Friends of the Earth, with data from the Transportation for America Coalition has analyzed the requests from 19 states. While praising Georgia, Massachusetts and California, the report rips South Carolina:
“South Carolina’s DOT wish list is a perfect example of how not to spend stimulus money. The state has requested $3.24 billion from the stimulus package, with 99 percent designated for roads, 80 percent of which is allotted for new road construction. This despite the fact that South Carolina has an abnormally high percentage of bridges that are structurally deficient: 14 percent. And, although eight percent of South Carolinians use public transportation, which is relatively high, less than one percent of the state’s stimulus ask is designated for public transportation.”
North Carolina doesn’t come in for specific praise or criticism. But look at the last page, and compare its request to Massachusetts’. In Massachusetts, 47 percent of the request would go to public transportation. Its request for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, 2.9 percent, was highest of all public DOT requests. Only 29.7 percent of Massachusetts’ request is designated to roads and of that, 100 percent is for repair and maintenance (12 percent of bridges in the state are structurally deficient).
North Carolina, by contrast, would put 83 percent of its request into roads, only 34 percent of that for repairs. Only 10 percent of its request would go to transit and an embarrassingly small 0.4 percent for bike/pedestrian transportation.
In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, the report notes, “building 10 miles of four-lane highway is like putting 46,700 Hummers on the road.”
Another interesting fact: By eliminating one car and taking public transportation instead of driving, a typical two-adult, two-car household can reduce its global warming emissions by 30 percent. That comes from the American Public Transportation Association’s testimony to Congress.