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Where do Trump and Clinton stand on making your commute better?
The Chicago Daily Herald ^ | October 25, 2016 | Marni Pyke

Posted on 11/04/2016 1:09:26 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

They may not ride in crammed trains or carry angst over potholes but feuding presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both want to fix America's infrastructure.

The focus on improving public transit and highways couldn't come soon enough for local commuters, say two experts.

"There is a desperate need to invest more into mass transit in Chicagoland," Regional Transportation Authority Chairman and former state senator Kirk Dillard said.

"Most states significantly assist in the mass transit arena, but that is not the case today in Illinois," Dillard added, noting New York City budgets about $196 per capita on mass transit compared to $80 here.

Republican Trump promises to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure over 10 years. Democrat Clinton proposes allocating $275 billion over five years and creating an "infrastructure bank" that could offer $225 billion in loans for local projects. Neither candidate has offered specific details on how to pay for their programs.

Trump, though, says his plan would be revenue-neutral and supported by leveraging "public-private partnerships, and private investments through tax incentives."

Clinton says she will use business tax reforms to raise revenues.

"What concerns me is that both candidates have spent a limited time talking about transportation," Metropolitan Planning Council President MarySue Barrett said. "We need roads and we need a strong highway system, but we also need improved and expanded transit options and options for walking and biking."

Clinton's overall infrastructure agenda includes clean water, high-speed internet access and clean energy. She is promising to fix deteriorating roads and reduce gridlock, invest in commuter rail, and speed up installing "NextGen" satellite technology to move air traffic more efficiently.

Trump has a broad infrastructure plan seeking to ensure clean drinking water and expand energy projects such as the Keystone pipeline. He intends to repair dangerous bridges and upgrade "Third World" airports. "No one can build better than I can; nobody knows construction like I do," Trump told FoxBusiness.

Whoever is president needs to resolve the decline in gas taxes, which fund transportation, caused by more fuel-efficient cars hybrids and electric vehicles, experts say.

That trend means that while the Illinois tollway can pay for a massive road-building program, the state is hard-pressed to modernize vital corridors like the Eisenhower Expressway, Barrett said.

"It doesn't make sense that we are limited in thinking about what the region needs based on whose turf you are talking about," Barrett said.

Dillard worries the GOP Party platform proposes phasing out transit funding but noted that Trump disagrees with his fellow Republicans on that issue.

Both candidates, Dillard said, "understand the need for mass transit and how a new generation of workers lives in a world of mass transit, Uber, Lyft, Zipcars and Divvy bikes."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: 2016issues; airports; biggovernment; biking; bluezones; broadband; chicago; chicagoland; clinton; democrats; donaldtrump; driving; election2016; energy; environment; funding; gop; hillary; hillaryclinton; illinois; infrastructure; infrastructurebank; keystonexl; republicans; ridesharing; spending; thedonald; transportation; trump; urban; walking; water
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1 posted on 11/04/2016 1:09:27 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

When the Feds contribute $80 to mass transit, $73 of that goes into a sinking union pension fund.


2 posted on 11/04/2016 1:10:33 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Socialists. They never stop wanting someone else to take care of them.


3 posted on 11/04/2016 1:11:27 PM PDT by dljordan (WhoVoltaire: "To find out who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.")
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To: dljordan

And they, of course, never stop wanting to take care of you.


4 posted on 11/04/2016 1:11:51 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Just one of a basket of deplorables.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Is that the President’s job?


5 posted on 11/04/2016 1:13:08 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Trump doesn’t care about potholes? There isn’t a NYer alive who doesn’t despise potholes - I’m sure his limo has taken lots of hits on cross streets. That’s how bad they can be. Hillary doesn’t even know what a pothole is and Huma is no longer there to tell her.


6 posted on 11/04/2016 1:13:25 PM PDT by miss marmelstein
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Huh?


7 posted on 11/04/2016 1:14:03 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

I hadn’t thought of the commute aspect to the election. Fewer jobs mean less people driving to work and less traffic. My commute could be a nightmare if Trump wins.


8 posted on 11/04/2016 1:14:10 PM PDT by LostPassword
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Good grief! I don’t need the President of the United States to be worried about my freaking commute!


9 posted on 11/04/2016 1:14:16 PM PDT by pgkdan (The Silent Majority Stands With TRUMP!)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

This is a local issue. The FedGov should focus on other things.


10 posted on 11/04/2016 1:16:27 PM PDT by Mr. Douglas (Today is your life. What are you going to do with it?)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

They don’t want to take care of you so much as they want to tell you how you should live.


11 posted on 11/04/2016 1:16:55 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Conservatives love America for what it is. Liberals hate America for the same reason.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Whoever is president needs to resolve the decline in gas taxes, which fund transportation, caused by more fuel-efficient cars hybrids and electric vehicles, experts say.


This is a state issue.


12 posted on 11/04/2016 1:17:02 PM PDT by Mr. Douglas (Today is your life. What are you going to do with it?)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

A vote for Hillary is a vote for lighter traffic. Commutes will be easy when no one is going to work.

I work from home, so my commute is great.


13 posted on 11/04/2016 1:17:39 PM PDT by cyclotic
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Doesn’t matter, not a president nor government’s job.

KYPD


14 posted on 11/04/2016 1:18:21 PM PDT by petro45acp (" It IS About Islam: exposing the truth about ISIS, Al Qaeda, Iran, and the caliphate" by Glenn Beck)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Do these people not have state and local officials?

He isnt running for mayor of your town.


15 posted on 11/04/2016 1:18:49 PM PDT by VanDeKoik
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Trump ...fix and upgrade roads.

Hillary... what’s left after payoff to unions an local pols, build walking paths, solar powered mass transit, bullet trains, an oh..little bit for Hilly.

And in 4 years, Dems will be back at the trough demanding we spend even more because not one bridge got fixed


16 posted on 11/04/2016 1:20:48 PM PDT by digger48
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

A cheap and quick improvement would be to get rid of HOV.


17 posted on 11/04/2016 1:21:09 PM PDT by fruser1
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

People stupidly relying on the nanny state to fix every problem is exactly why this country is in a massive debt and political corruption mess

Local rights, local power, local responsibility


18 posted on 11/04/2016 1:30:41 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

They’ll make the trains run on time


19 posted on 11/04/2016 1:32:54 PM PDT by stanne
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Commuting is a local problem to be solved by local pols that steal from peter transportation to pay paul personalenrichment


20 posted on 11/04/2016 1:35:02 PM PDT by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc;WASP .... Hilary is an Ameriphobe)
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