DC-Area Residents Support Transit

Two interesting results from a Washington Post poll of voters in DC, Alexandria, and Montgomery, Prince George’s, Fairfax, and Loudon counties. First they asked this:

In recent years the Metro system has run up against funding shortages. Do you think (Metro should operate within its existing budget, even if this might mean cutting current services), or do you think (the region should find a new way to fund Metro, even if this might mean raising taxes on area residents)?

The answer:

And they asked:

Changing topics, in general, do you think government efforts to reduce traffic congestion in the Washington region should be focused more on expanding and building roads, or on providing more public transportation options, such as trains or buses?

The answer:

Unfortunately, the Post didn’t highlight either of these results—directly relevant to very live policy disputes—instead they chose to lede with this:

After a year in which Metrorail was buffeted by the worst string of accidents in its history, most riders give the system high marks for comfort, reliability and generally the ability to take them where they want to go, according to a new Washington Post poll.

Of course the DC area’s roadways were also marred by a string of accidents, accidents that were not unusual since large numbers of deadly accidents occur on highways during all years. But leaving that aside, the point is that most people aren’t aware that there are real policy issues in play. People like Metro and want more mass transit options. But due to budget cuts, Metro is heading for catastrophic reductions in service and huge rollbacks of the level of available options. Thus far, our nascent mayor’s race in DC has been weirdly vacuous instead of focusing on the looming catastrophe facing our region’s transportation system. That needs to change.