US fossil-fuel wars and autosprawl waste -- creating want

...Both political parties need a big wakeup call. There is a tsunami of poverty sweeping the United States, and somebody better wake up and do something about it. More handouts will help people get by in the short-term, but there is no way that the federal government can financially support tens of millions more poor Americans.

How long is it going to be before the "safety net" simply collapses under the weight of all this poverty?

Alternet

here is some money we could use... click here

BusinessInsider: inequality getting worse

Candidate for governor advocates free public transit

After Harlem Heckle, Barron Takes Freedom Party To Steps Of Brooklyn Borough Hall | The New York Observer: "Barron said that there was very little difference between the economic policies of Cuomo and G.O.P. candidate Carl Paladino, and said that his platform consisted of free public transportation, lowering the cost of college tuition, and paying for it all with an income tax on upper income earners."

Pau, France - public money spent on one car race would pay for a year of free public transport

Le NPA-Béarn s’insurge contre cette dilapidation d’argent public au profit d’une politique vroum-vroum polluante et dépassée. Il « dénonce le vote de la quasi-totalité des élus PS et PCF en faveur de la reconduction du GP automobile de Pau dont le coût pour les Palois dépasse largement celui de l’instauration de la gratuité des transports en commun que nous revendiquons. »

Car la question est bien là: 1,7 millions d’euros, cela représente la possibilité de faire passer l’ensemble du réseau de transports en commun de la ville de Pau à la gratuité totale!

En outre, le Grand Prix automobile de Pau, c’est :

- près de 2 millions d’euros partis en fumée chaque année, soit davantage que le coût de la gratuité des transports en commun à Pau,
- des employés municipaux mobilisés pendant plusieurs mois,
- des nuisances pour les riverains et pour une majorité de palois,
- une vitrine publicitaire pour les grands groupes pétroliers et automobiles,
- des tonnes de pétrole gaspillées pour rien.

Et le plus navrant dans l’histoire, c’est que les mêmes qui prétendent que la « gratuité des transports publics, c’est pas possible, c’est trop cher, etc. » financent ensuite des courses de bagnoles avec notre argent!

Alors, avec presque 2 millions d’euros, Grand Prix de Pau ou Bus Gratuit?

carfreefrance

Arctic ice decline continues

Autosprawl - too many trips to the well

Dubai plans for 34% public transit usage

Dubai "gets it", sees the auto for what it is: Good for profit, bad for life.

The Roads and Transport Authority will offer a one-day free public transportation to commuters in the emirates. Currently, around 11 per cent of Dubai’s population use public transportation. This is expected to grow to 34 per cent in 2010. alrroya

Record 140 traffic jams hit Beijing in single evening - The China Post

Record 140 traffic jams hit Beijing in single evening - The China Post: "Record 140 traffic jams hit Beijing in single evening

BEIJING -- A record 140 traffic jams were observed on Friday evening in the Chinese capital, state media reported, as the number of vehicles on Beijing's streets has exceeded 4.5 million."

Free transit idea getting popular in Canada

Lorenzo Mele, a resource conservation specialist and social marketing practitioner, has been designing and managing environmental programs and services for 20 years.

Your City, My City: "Free roads? Why not free transit?

A recent Star editorial concerning road pricing generated the predictable response from the anti-toll crowd: we paid for the roads so we have a right to use them at no cost.

What if we all agreed that road use be free of charge, with one concession: public transit become free of charge as well? Consider this: we already pay close to 50 per cent of transit operating costs through taxes, why not go all the way and pay the full cost – it could be the cheapest way to give everyone equal access to transportation, and for those lucky enough to already own a private automobile it would be the most affordable second car they could ever buy."

Brazil youth lead the world in the struggle for free public transit

Click HERE to read more about the free public transit movement in Brazil

Bus Riders Union of Austin, Texas | El Sindicato de Pasajeros | The true owners of transit in Austin

Bus Riders Union of Austin, Texas | El Sindicato de Pasajeros | The true owners of transit in Austin: "The Bus Riders Union of Austin, Texas is committed to improving the quality and accessibility of public mass transit.

announcing...........

1st Annual Metro Stockholders Meeting
Saturday September 18, 2010

10 AM

University Baptist Church ** 2130 Guadalupe
use routes 1L, 1M, 3, or 5

Am I a stock holder?

Yes! If you pay any sales tax in Austin you are a stockholder. If you pay a fare in addition to your sales tax you are a preferred stockholder.

Breakout sessions focusing on topics like Fare Free systems, How WE pay for Transit, Winning Campaigns, the Grid System, and Legislative strategies

Send agenda ideas NOW to: info@busatx.org, or use contact page

'We own it, Let's run it!'"

UK - Campaign for free public transport expands

http://www.freepublictransport.org.uk/

The Economic Benefits of Free Public Transport

Further Abstract: The Economic Benefits of Free Public Transport (Raphie de Santos) | Fptresearchgroup's Blog: "“Most of the arguments for free public transport (FPT) focus on the environmental benefits and the enrichment of people’s lives by allowing them to travel no matter their financial situation. However, it brings many economic benefits to wider society. For example, with vehicle traffic set to rise by 50% over the next 25 years and a corresponding doubling of the time commuters lose because of congestion, FPT would greatly reduce this lost time. The lost time that could be put to more socially useful purposes is just part of the gains of FPT.� Being caught in commuting traffic also creates the wrong frame of mind to tackle future tasks for the day – the multiple problems created by traffic chaos can be measured by the car commuter pain index in which London just ranks behind Madrid and Sao Paulo. FPT would greatly reduce this pain."

Streetsblog Capitol Hill � Our Mobile Money Pits: The True Cost of Cars

Streetsblog Capitol Hill � Our Mobile Money Pits: The True Cost of Cars: "Transportation swallows one out of every five dollars earned by the average American family, double the bite it took in 1960. This increase alone could account for much of the plummet, over that fifty-year period, in the household savings rate, which by the aughts had skidded close to zero."

US out of touch - but will become minor player - #climatechange

...So, big business gets it. Politicians able to look beyond narrow parochialism get it. Science gets it. The media gets it (and exploits contrarian views out of mere cynicism in the search for profit). Even Lomborg gets it – eventually – although how sincere he is may be open to question. That said, it is depressingly clear the US doesn’t get it – at least, a sufficient and well-organised subset of the US population and the politicians that represent them. Enough of them to make me think that by the time we got some kind of half-baked agreement about mitigation, the water would already be lapping at the door even as a failing US becomes relegated to the minor league as global trade and expansion grinds to an untimely halt.... Guardian