The United States is the land of the car. It spent billions to bailout big auto companies. It builds cities with wide streets and highways running through downtowns. It builds suburbs where the only way to get anywhere is by automobile.
But does that mean Americans aren't interested in alternative transportation options?
The Natural Resources Defense Council has an interesting new survey with some unexpected results for a country that's stuck in drive.
In general, Americans have a fondness for transit. Here are some of the findings:
Thoughts on transit
Thoughts on driving
Thoughts on U.S. transportation infrastructure
And when it comes to the best strategies for reducing transit, it's not just people from big cities who think public transit is the best option:
Another fascinating statistic the survey brought to light is the misinformation about how much their state spends on public transit. The average estimate was about 16 percent of the total transportation budget. In reality, the average amount allocated for public transit in state and federal transportation budgets over the past three years was around 6.5 percent. Those surveyed think spending for public transit should be around 28 percent.
The bipartisan poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies (which traditionally conducts Republican polling) and Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (which typically focuses on polling for Democratics) and surveyed 800 people.
(h/t Streetsblog)
Photo: Flickr/Visualist Images
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com