Policies > Renewing America > Section 4

Making Transit Trustworthy & Accessible

State and city governments have long been working on making public transit more accessible and building a system that gets residents where they need to go without burdensome delays, transfers, or high fares. Boosting transit usage is also a key factor in achieving cleaner air, less congestion on roads, and stronger economies with more opportunities for mobility.

However, it has been difficult to achieve these goals in an efficient way, and people of color have born a disproportionate burden of the inefficiencies created by a system that has prioritized automobile traffic. Now, as the country recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, the problem of transit has become more complicated: How can we restore trust in the safety of taking transit? How can we fund improvements in transit in a time of extreme budget pressure? And how do leaders ensure that policy decisions made now address the long-term inefficiencies and inequalities that have impeded people’s mobility?

Rebuilding a New Normal: Key Principles and Policy Goals

  • Take the overall transportation system into account

    Take the overall transportation system into account: roadways and their design & placement; pedestrian access; bicycles, scooters, and other individual modes of transportation; buses; and trains.

  • Improve data collection

    Improve data collection to measure not just movement and not just vehicles, but how people are using transit, and their access to work, businesses, and essential services

  • Consider Transportation with Land Use

    Consider transportation in concert with land use decisions, and ensure that those decisions aren’t creating barriers to transit goals or the types of transportation that residents prefer to use

  • Collaborate on Solutions

    Collaborate on innovative solutions to keep riders healthy and safe, and to make funding more effective by looking at transit needs across a metro area, county, or region

  • Safer Environment

    Regain riders’ trust by creating a visibly safer environment

  • Equitable Access

    Prioritize equitable access, as an easy means of connecting vulnerable communities to a wider array of jobs and economic opportunities with higher wages and pay

  • Maximize Limited Funding

    Maximize impact of limited funding

  • Support Rural Transit System

    Support rural transit systems which often cannot recover from a shock like COVID’s impact on travel

Next Section: Expanding Access to Broadband