Living Car Free

It really depends who gets in the White House how the American transportation network will be affected by the 2008 election. Will transportation infrastructure get more or less funding? Whose plan will work to provide the best combination of funding and plans for improving our infrastructure?

Should the new president consider a "New Deal" type plan to provide jobs in our lagging economy AND improve our infrastructure? Will we get the high-speed rail network from Boston to DC?

Let's keep in mind we need almost $2 trillion dollars over 5 years to bring our transportation system up from a "D" to an "A".

John McCain, the Republican nominee, advocates shifting financing from earmarks to high-priority projects. Sounds like a good idea, but earmark programs may be essential programs that are refunded every year.

The Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, has proposed creating a federally-funded bank to invest in improvement projects. Sounds great, too, but the economy has gone south and credit sources and savings have dried up.

Read more about the candidates' plans for fixing our transportation infrastructure. What are your thoughts?

If we get $2 trillion (in the best case senario), what would you allocate the funds to/for? Bike trails? Public transit improvements? More highways? Strengthening bridges?