Aside from government, there is no more influential force in transportation decision-making than the business community. My hopes for that community and its role in improving the transportation system were raised when, a few months ago, I looked at what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had to say about transportation.

What I found was a clear statement that the United States needs to take a multi-modal, sustainable approach to transportation:

America’s transportation and infrastructure system, once a marvel of the modern world, has been stretched beyond its capacity and has fallen into disrepair. A decaying transportation system costs our economy more than $78 billion annually in lost time and fuel. The Chamber advocates for a comprehensive approach to solving the nation’s looming transportation infrastructure crisis. Specifically, the Chamber believes that a multi-modal and intermodal vision must increase capacity, reduce congestion, and improve the efficient, safe, sustainable movement of goods and people throughout the country and world.

As I explained in a comment I made on the Locally Grown Northfield web site, where I first referred to this quote, there are four words here that stand out for me: “comprehensive,” “multi-modal,” “intermodal,” and “sustainable.” (“Intermodal” refers to movement from one mode of transport to another, as from a car to a train.) These are not words that I was expecting to see from the U.S. Chamber, because I don’t see them from the local Chamber where I live.

It’s clear from the U.S. Chamber web site that they support mass transit and air travel in addition to personal motor vehicle transportation. I must assume that they would also include walking and cycling as part of a comprehensive, multi-modal transportation system, since those are the most “sustainable” of all modes of transportation. However, I am not so naive as to think that the latter are a high priority for the U.S. Chamber. They are not, if we are to judge from their web site, because it makes no mention of them.

The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce also supports mass transit, but in a more cautious way. See their transportation policy statement for more information on that topic. Note also that they support an increase in the gas tax of from 5 to 7.5 percent in order to fund transportation improvement; even they will admit that inflation has severely eroded the buying power of our gas tax receipts.

Certainly communities will vary in their commitment to a multi-modal transportation system. As I mentioned in a post from last summer, when I visited Bend, Oregon, I met with the executive director of Commute Options for Central Oregon, a transportation non-profit whose slogan is “promoting choices that reduce the impact of driving alone.” He told me that the local Chamber of Commerce there was a partner in their work. That bodes well for the future of our country and our world.

The wider business community knows that building more and wider roads is not the sole solution to transportation problems. Mass transit is also necessary. I would also argue that wise land use policies such as mixed-used development and low-impact transportation options such as walking and cycling are also key components to our transportation future, and I hope that business leaders will sign on to that future.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 16th, 2008 at 7:33 am and is filed under Biking/Walking, Minnesota, Northfield, Transportation.