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Conservative institute launches pro-transit think tank

Ten years ago, when the urbanist movement was in its infancy and supporters were few and far between, we liked to say that better cities and better transit were non-partisan issues. The thinkers out in front of the movement included both liberals and conservatives, so everyone involved hoped that the urban agenda could be furthered without becoming a partisan wedge issue.

It hasn’t really worked out that way. Since then, generally speaking, Democrats have more quickly embraced urbanism and transit than Republicans. Maybe because more Democrats live in cities, maybe because conservatives are naturally slower to adopt different ideas, or maybe because ostensibly conservative organizations like Cato poisoned the debate. For whatever the reason, urbanism and transportation have needlessly teetered on the brink of partisanship, at the very least.

But take a look at this:

The perception that conservatives do not use public transportation is only one of the mistaken notions that has warped the Right’s position on transportation policy. Another is that the dominance of automobiles and highways is a free-market outcome. Nothing could be further from the truth. Were we to drop back 100 years, we would find a dense, nationwide network of rail transportation. Almost all of these rail systems were privately owned, paid taxes, and were expected to make a profit. But they were wiped out by massive government subsidies to highways. Today’s situation, where “drive or die” is the reality for most Americans, is a product of almost a century of government intervention in the transportation market.

That paragraph was written by William Lind, the director the American Conservative Center for Public Transportation. He published it as part of a pro-transit series on transportation being hosted by American Conservative called Keep America Moving. The series is in anticipation of the launch of a new pro-transit conservative think tank by American Conservative parent company, The American Ideas Institute. The think tank will, in its own words, “work to showcase conservative arguments for a balanced transportation system in which rail and roads complement one another”.

This is wonderful news. The arguments for transit are clearly non-partisan, so it would be fabulous for the movement to return to its non-partisan roots.

I’ll be following this new institute with great interest.

August 27th, 2010 | Permalink
Tags: transportation



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