Draft GPUS Platform Amendment Transportation

Section title: Transportation

Section subtitle: Mass transit for America

Our position: Greens support expanding mass transit, and the use of bicycles and other alternatives to the automobile.

The Green Party supports a transportation policy that emphasizes the use of mass transit and alternatives to the automobile and truck for transport. We call for major public investment in mass transportation, so that such systems are cheap or free to the public and are safe, accessible, and easily understandable to first-time users. To reduce auto use, the Green Party advocates the following strategies.

Green Solutions

MORE SAFE SPACE FOR PEDESTRIANS

Make streets, neighborhoods and commercial districts more pedestrian friendly.

Increase the greenery of streets.

Utilize traffic-calming methods, where the design of streets promotes safe speeds and safe interaction with pedestrians. Create auto-free zones.

Develop extensive networks of bikeways, bicycle lanes and paths. Include bike racks on all public transit.

Maintain free community bicycle fleets, and provide necessary support for cyclists. Mass Transit 6. Develop affordable mass transit systems that are more economical to use than private vehicles.

MASS TRANSPORTATION

Encourage employer subsidies of transit commuter tickets for employees, funded by government Congestion Management grants.

Use existing auto infrastructure for transit expansion where possible. Light rail should be established in expressway medians through metropolitan high-density corridors.

Expand our country’s network of rail lines, including high-speed regional passenger service.

Build rail lines for the exclusive use of passenger trains. Automobiles

REDUCE ENERGY INTENSIVE TRANSPORTATION

Place a moratorium on highway widening then use the money for mass transit and facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Mandate HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes on freeways, and lower toll fees for carpools.

Discourage unnecessary auto use by eliminating free parking in non-residential areas well served by mass transit, and establish preferential parking rates for HOV.

Support ambitious increases in motor vehicle fuel efficiency, including the use of hybrid electric designs. Legislate a “gas guzzler” tax on new vehicles that get a lower MPG than the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards and offer “gas sipper” rebates for vehicles that get a higher MPG. Schedule an increase in CAFE standards to 60 MPG for cars and 45 MPG for light trucks by the year 2012.

Develop and market the conversion of existing, used cars and trucks to electric vehicles, so that such conversions are cheaper than purchasing new vehicles.

Develop and market quick-charging electric batteries or battery exchange stations so that electric vehicles can be used for long-distance travel.

Support government procurement of high efficiency motor vehicles.

Encourage carpooling programs, telecommuting, and other creative solutions to reduce commuter traffic congestion. We advocate fair buy-backs of the most polluting and least efficient vehicles to remove them from the road.

We call for incentives to get long-distance truck hauling off of our highways and on to railways. Governments on all levels must take the initiative in eliminating administrative and logistical obstacles to efficient rail freight transportation.

Make airports accessible by local transit systems.

Reductions in airplane noise and air pollution.