[QatzelOk]

BLUEPRINT AMERICA: You are a Republican – and you support transportation and infrastructure spending?

REP. MICA: Well, I tell you though, if you’re on the Transportation Committee long enough, even if you’re a fiscal conservative, which I consider myself to be, you quickly see the benefits of transportation investment. Simply, I became a mass transit fan because it’s so much more cost effective than building a highway. Also, it’s good for energy, it’s good for the environment – and that’s why I like it.

BLUEPRINT AMERICA: If anything, you’d say that your time in Congress and on the Transportation Committee has brought you around to these ideas?

REP. MICA: Yes. And, seeing the cost of one person in one car. The cost for construction. The cost for the environment. The cost for energy. You can pretty quickly be convinced that there’s got to be a more cost effective way. It’s going to take a little time, but we have to have good projects, they have to make sense – whether it’s high-speed rail or commuter rail or light rail. We got to have some alternatives helping people – even in the rural areas – to get around.

rest of interview

Interesting to see a Republican who isn't (financially) married to the lies of the auto and oil industries.
...

[Dr House]

The auto industry can make as much money on buses as they can on cars.

The oil industry can as well, since a bus has the fuel efficiency of an Abrams tank.

That said I support more widespread usge of public transit, as it eases traffic congestion and lowers logistics costs and commute times.

[grassroots1]

1) Mass transit is not necessarily buses, it could also be trains, which can be incredibly energy-efficient.
2) Buses can also be very energy-efficient.

This is cool to see, I like it. I want to see more reasonable fiscal conservatives like this one, instead of the short-sighted ones who oppose any and all spending.

[Dr House]

I agree. What modern-day Republicans don't get is that a prosperous economy can't be sustained without heavy industry, and heavy industry can't be competitive without a modern, expansive, clean and well-maintained infrastructure.

[Dave]

Obviously you've never heard of tax cuts, House

[Thunderhawk]

Other industries would benefit from improved infrastructure, but not so much from tax cuts strictly for heavy industries.

[Dr House]

Dave's joking, T-Hawk. Republicans seem to think tax cuts are the cure for AIDS.

[QatzelOk]

Obviously you've never heard of tax cuts, House

He's never heard that buses carry more passengers than tanks either.

And he doesn't realize that cars make a lot more money (use more resources) than buses ever could.

[Dr House]

Buses are larger and much more expensive than cars. Therefore, they make a comparable amount of money for carmakers and use comparable resources. They may in fact use more resources than cars if their use is overdone. King County (Washington) for example, has a county-wide bus network of about 300 routes, of which at the very least a dozen of them carry an average of one passenger per trip. I love their bus system as it's great for easing traffic congestion (a big problem in the area) and support even further expanding it, but I don't kid myself that it's gonna help the environment any.

[Thunderhawk]

Buses are larger and much more expensive than cars. Therefore, they make a comparable amount of money for carmakers and use comparable resources.

No.
Transit Buses cost $250k-500k each, are expected to last decades and there are much much fewer of them needed then private cars. Sale of Transit buses is not a replacement for reduced sales of normal cars.

They may in fact use more resources than cars if their use is overdone. King County (Washington) for example, has a county-wide bus network of about 300 routes, of which at the very least a dozen of them carry an average of one passenger per trip.

How many customers does each route get over the course of a year? and how many buses do they run on average each day? Buses are often run at bad hours to ensure reliability of service for the average person, and thus people are willing to use the buses as their primary means of transportation - not just an alternative to the family car.

When Im with friends on the weekends the last leg of my homeward trip is on a bus around 1-1:30 AM and I am either the only one on it or one of 2-3 riders.
But that same route gets a lot of riders during the day, and during peak weekday hours every bus is packed. If they didnt provide service at odd hours, a lot of people would just get a car.

[Dr House]

How many customers does each route get over the course of a year?

Depends on the area. All routes get a minimum of 5 or 6 customers a day, and Seattle-bound or internal Seattle routes get thousands of customers a day. The schedule also depends on how busy a route is, and can range from service every ten minutes to service every hour. The majority of routes in Seattle have service every 10-15 minutes, while the majority of routes in North King County and East King County have service every half-hour. I'm not sure about South King County, but I believe the majority of South County routes have service every hour.

[QatzelOk]

^^^

And your point is...?

[dilpill]

*suddenly has much more support for his congressman*

What's sad is that there isn't any public transportation in his entire congressional district, sans like 2 one mile tourist trolleys in St. Augustine. I have to go up the Duval County to get on the bus if I wanted to get to downtown Jacksonville. I live at the very edge of the district.

So, Mica... Some earmarks here please.

[Rancid]

It would be great to see cities fund mass transit projects. I'm sure it could be done without raising taxes. We just need to root out the corrupt money siphoning politicians.

[Dr House]

We just need to root out the corrupt money siphoning politicians.

I'm not sure any government plan could operate without any politicians to pass legislation approving it.

[Thunderhawk]

It would be great to see cities fund mass transit projects. I'm sure it could be done without raising taxes.

make highways toll roads, gas tax goes towards city infrastructure - including transit.

[QatzelOk]

In France, cities can impose their own sales tax of up to a percent (or so) in order to fund mass transit improvements.

This is how they all got their fabu tramways going.

In Canada, cities should get a part of the GST to use towards de-carbonizing transit. Which means mass transit and bicycles.