Early last month, news outlets across the U.S. picked up a story about how much traffic delays are costing motorists in the 85 biggest cities.
The basis for the story was the annual congestion study produced by the Texas Transportation Institute. The institute's latest report said the average urban traveler was stuck in traffic 46 hours in 2002, a 187 percent increase over the 16 hours lost in 1982.
Although the problem is most severe in cities with more than 3 million residents, even cities like Anchorage, Alaska, and Brownsville, Texas, are suffering from traffic congestion, the study noted.
In 54 urban areas, traffic tie-ups increased 30 percent faster than roads could be built to alleviate them.
Not surprisingly, the average Los Angeles commuter spent 93 hours snarled in traffic in 2002, the most of any city in the survey. Drivers in Dallas-Fort Worth saw the biggest increase in the amount of time they spent spinning their wheels in rush-hour traffic, up 48 hours since 1982, to 61 hours.
After reading such reports, one has to wonder how much longer public policy makers are going to keep ignoring the contribution the private bus and motorcoach industry could make to ameliorate those awful numbers?
And, how much longer are Congress and the Bush Administration going to tolerate the failure of public transit agencies to abide by federal laws that require them to reach out to the private sector when developing solutions to public transportation problems?
Clearly, the private bus industry can help lessen congestion -- but Congress and administration officials are blind to that fact, and the empire builders and egotists who populate transit agencies think only public systems should be allowed to contribute to traffic congestion solutions.
In the wake of the study, the president of the American Public Transportation Association, William W. Millar, issued a call for "immediate passage" of the stalled federal highway and public transportation bill and an increase in federal spending for public transit programs.
While Millar's pitch for more money for his members was to be expected, he made one statement that we wholeheartedly agree with: "The need for more solutions to existing traffic congestion is clearly overdue," he said. Amen.
Bold and decisive action is needed and the private bus sector needs to be part of the action plan.
Like public transportation, private-sector bus operations can and do help reduce commute times, reduce air pollution, promote economic activity and development, help make communities more livable, and provide greater access and freedom for people from every walk of life and economic strata.
Despite the benefits public transportation brings, many Americans still do not have access to service. And the fact is, the public sector will never be able to serve everyone or go everywhere. The private-sector bus industry can and does help fill the gap.
But it's going to take policy makers with the vision to look beyond the public transit lobby and the build-more-highways crowd, and who see the potential represented by the thousands of private bus operators, both large and small, that operate in this country. Unfortunately, they'll probably have to be hit by a bus before they see the light.