Despite the global recession, a panel of transportation experts meeting in Seattle agreed now is the time to invest in and improve transit systems as part of a comprehensive and holistic solution to pollution and congestion. “The American public had the infrastructure that was once the envy of the world....We let it crumble,” said Patrick Natale, executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers. “But it’s a new day. We finally have the leadership to take action, and it’s very exciting.”
Planning is as crucial as funding. Susan Zielinski, University of Michigan’s managing director of sustainable mobility and accessibility research and transportation, said researchers layered maps of various cities’ energy grid, bus routes, rail lines, roads and other systems on top of each other and determined cities like Washington, D.C., may already have the necessary infrastructure to integrate multimodally, with only minor investment needed.