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."
Hillary will definitely have a greater impact on folks’ commute times, reducing them by so destroying the economy that there won’t be hardly anyone on the roads at rush hour...
Nope
At my job if I have to come in over the weekend I can take a day off during the week.
It used to be great as I could zip around and get lots of stuff done like Dr. appointments, go to motor vehicles, get my car fixed, etc, etc, and with more things open and fewer people around, I would have very productive days.
Not anymore! Because now even during the day (even on a Wednesday at 2:00pm in the afternoon) there is so much #&@*(&#@ traffic everywhere.
Where there were few cars on the road before and I could get a lot done, the roads are now jammed with the unemployed, welfare rats and illegal immigrants all on the dole just driving around in no hurry to get anywhere.
Just drive anywhere during the week 10 years ago vs today, and you know Obama's unemployment numbers are crap
I’m guessing President Trump wont come to your town during rush hour.
Is the quoted Kirk Dillard the same guy who opposed the Conservative Fab5 as Gov Edgar’s lead on signing impossible contracts with government employee unions. Is this the Kirk dillard who is responsible for IL having the worst economics of any state government?
we try to blame Madigan. But isn’t it Kirk Dillard who convinced the opposition to not oppose?
And now we’re going to listen to him on the next big subsidy to the Asphalt Pavers Assn?
The Feds have no constitunal authority to take my tax dollars and give it to some stinking city’s mass transit system.
Not a federal issue. I oppose the person who wants to do the most as president to help my commute.
I do not care how Chicago denizens get to work. The President should not either.
Chicago is a hell-hole.
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