Towards Sustainable Transportation Policy in the United States: A Grassroots Perspective

Abstract

Transportation policy in the United States has travelled a road of top-down decision-making in which federal policy was set without participation from local communities. Government’s failure to create a process that addresses community needs through local and regional funding has resulted in a car-dominated transportation system that is not sustainable. A sustainable transportation system should provide people with affordable transportation options to get to work, play, school, shopping, and health care among other transportation needs. At the same time, the system should not have detrimental environmental impacts. However, transportation policies set by government at the state and federal level have focused on the suburban commuter travelling to work during the peak hours at the expense of other users of the system, and the environment. The needs of low income communities, youth and the elderly have often been left out of the policymaking process. This policy framework for transportation has skewed priorities to meet the needs of the middle-class suburban commuter at the expense of urban communities, especially low income communities and communities of color (Yee, 1999).