U.S. transportation system isn't going anywhere

Doug Ervin, chairman of 1,000 Friends of Central Ohio, wrote a letter to the editor that was published in today's Columbus Dispatch. He observes that that the United States government spends only 0.93 percent of its gross domestic product on transportation infrastructure (about one-tenth that of China). The funds that are being spent are heavily weighted toward highways, bridges, and air service.

Well, hello... we have $100 per barrel oil, past peak. Automobiles, trucks, and buses are the largest single source of greenhouse gases, and right now, within the state, there are no other options.

One of the principles that I would like to see in the Ohio Republic is that of natural sustainability. I'm not talking about tree-hugging "environmentalism" -- I am talking about working our way toward renewable resources, clean air, and responsible land use. Rail and public transit systems can run on electricity, which can be generated from many clean and renewable sources (and on the short term, by coal, which we still have in abundance -- but will need to develop technologies to burn more cleanly).

As Mr. Ervin writes:

"As we look for options to ease pain at the pump, we find few or no choices.

"Federal passenger-rail legislation that would remedy this is long in coming but again faces delay from a threatened presidential veto and glacial movement by Congress. We need action, and we need it now. Otherwise, how can we possibly begin to address issues such as energy conservation, air quality and land use?"

Ohio is compact and has eight metro areas. We are ideally situated to build a public transportation infrastructure that can be a model for North America -- but only when we have freed ourselves and our tax dollars of the Feds' misplaced priorities.