“The recent spike in gas prices is just one of many compelling reasons why convenient, fast, and reliable bus and rail service need to be expanded throughout our cities,” said Emily Rusch, Transportation Advocate with CALPIRG Education Fund. “Let’s face it: the era of cheap oil is over.”
Many experts predict that gas prices will exceed $4 a gallon in southern California in the coming weeks and months. Thanks to public transit, California saved more than 486 million gallons of oil, roughly equivalent to taking more than 800,000 cars off the road. That has made California far less dependent on oil than we otherwise would be, and has made consumers less susceptible to gas price spikes. In fact, the report estimates that existing public transit results in more than $1.2 billion dollars in gasoline cost savings annually for consumers.
A few highlights from California:
- The Bay Area’s BART system is the third best system in the country in oil savings, behind only MTA in New York and Washington D.C.’s Metro. BART cut the Bay Area’s oil use by 199 million gallons.
- The Los Angeles Metro bus system is the number one bus system in the country in oil savings, cutting Los Angeles’ oil use by more than 56 million gallons.
- Stockton and Bakersfield were recognized as having the most oil savings from public transit out of all urbanized areas with populations under 500,000.
Reduced oil dependence and insulation from gas price spikes aren’t the only benefits. California has also committed to reducing our global warming pollution by 25% by 2020, a commitment that will be difficult to reach unless we reduce our dependence on cars. Public transit prevents almost 3.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution annually.
The CALPIRG Education Fund report also found that every dollar invested in public transit reaps more than two dollars in benefits. Last year the California state legislature cut more than $1.26 billion from public transit agencies to balance the state budget.
“California’s budget was balanced last year with unacceptably high cuts to public transit agencies,” said Rusch. “We’re calling on Governor Schwarzenegger to ensure public transit gets its fair share of funding this year, so that we can invest in local transit and reduce California’s dependence on oil.”
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