The What:
The Union of Concerned Scientists released its report, “Freedom to Move: Investing in Transportation Choices for a Clean, Prosperous, and Just Future.”
The Takeaway
The report highlights three important findings. In four “Quick Takes,” we will explore each key finding. The overarching message of the report echoes our own: “More transportation options such as transit, walking, and biking are good for the environment, the economy, and social equity.”
The second finding highlights that the “auto and oil industries have a vested interest in car dependence, currently receive more than 75 percent of the public transportation spending, and have lobbied for decades to prioritize cars over a more complete and affordable set of transportation options.”
Why You Should Care
This report, from a trusted source, documents that we are not where we are by accident. The report highlights our opposition – the auto and oil industries behind the powerful lobby that continues to expand our roads and highways and dependency on vehicles.
The Proof:
The report documents the history behind our current road and highway infrastructure. They tell the following story about how
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- “Privatized Turnpikes Go Bankrupt, Rural Roads Fall into Disrepair, and Government Steps In”
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- The “Federal Policymakers Made Key Commitments to Car Dependence in the 1900
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- The Interstate System and the Highway Trust Fund Federal funding was expanded toinclude an even broader range of roads under the FederalAid Highway Act of 1944.
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- The Government Finally Funds Transit but at a Much Lesser Level than It Does Cars
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- Promising Practices Emerge in the Modern Era of Transportation, but We Continue toInvest in Car Dependence”The report documents a comparative analysis of public spending on Transit vs. Roads & Highways from 1922 – 2022.
The next graphic highlights where the money is coming from, primarily private car owners, and where it is going, the greatest share to the Automotive and Oil Industries.
It then comes as no surprise that the biggest lobbies are deriving the largest benefit and have an interest in keeping the cost of transit high so that people stay in their cars.
This section of the report concludes with the most recent example of the impact of the industry lobby.
“Today, the influence of these industries looms large. While their coalitions have adapted, changed in focus, and even name, the auto, oil, and road-building industries have remained steadfast in leading the political support to maintain car dependence. For example, they were key in obstructing the transparency and accountability of the common-sense greenhouse gas performance measure of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in early 2024. The organizations that signed onto one harmful letter in early 2024 collectively spent over $104 million in documented lobbying time in 2023 and over $14 million in political contributions (Associated General Contractors of America 2024;
OpenSecrets.org). These industries also exert their influence at the state and local levels. A more recent example of their efforts occurred around 2018 when fossil fuel–financed Americans for Prosperity fought initiatives to increase local transit funding in cities and counties across the country (Tabuchi 2018). “
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