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GOV_thomas-day

Thomas Day

Contributor

Thomas Day is a senior consultant with Intueor Consulting, managing the company's research and communications. His commentaries have appeared in The Washington Post, on CNN.com and in Mass Transit and Passenger Transport magazines.

Day holds degrees from Penn State University, Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He is also an adjunct lecturer at the Harris School. He can be reached at day@intueor.com.

Local governments and transit agencies are going to have to come up with matching funds, and to boost revenues, they’ll need to find ways to bring riders back. That will require some bold decisions.
As billions for infrastructure flow from Washington, moving away from dependence on the automobile will require new cooperation between federal grantmakers and state and local recipients. Are carless cities in our future?
The new infrastructure bill could make buses and trains faster, cleaner and more reliable. But it will take bold local policies to fill them with passengers.
Making public transit free might seem a crazy idea, but it has benefits that can outweigh the costs. It's widespread in Europe, and more American transit agencies should give it a serious look.