Although most Americans drive their cars to work each day, a
sizable amount of policy debate centers on public transportation,
especially as cities embark on urban planning. A recent Reason-Rupe
poll of 1,200 adults on landline and mobile phones finds that 12
percent of Americans take public transportation at least a few
times a week and 63 percent say they never take public transit.

Correspondingly, 62 percent of Americans prioritize
transportation funding for roads and highways over funding for
public transit. Nevertheless, 30 percent—substantially more than
those who frequently use public transportation—would prioritize
funding for public transit. However, it is unclear whether those
who do not take public transit but want to prioritize its spending
would personally use public transit if expanded or if they would
just want others to use it to reduce traffic congestion.

When getting specific, a third of Americans say public transit
funding should be commensurate with the percentage using it; in
other words, government should spend the same amount of money per
person who takes public transit as those who take roads. Another
third believe government should spend more dollars per person using
public transit than individuals using roads. In comparison, 15
percent would spend disproportionally more per person using roads.
Among those who frequently use public transit to get to work,
nearly half believe that more dollars per person should be spent on
those using public transportation than those using roads. In
contrast, 33 percent of those who primarily commute on roads and
highways would rather government spend more dollars per person
using roads.

Americans overwhelmingly believe tax dollars spent on
transportation are spent ineffectively (65 percent), whereas only
23 percent believe the money is spent well. Interestingly, there
are substantial differences between those who take public transit
and roads and perceptions of government wastefulness. Sixty six
percent of those who commute on roads believe government spends
transportation dollars ineffectively, while only 21 percent
disagree. In contrast, 41 percent of public transit users believe
government does spend effectively.

Find full Reason-Rupe Q4 2011 poll results, question wording,
and methodology here.

The Reason-Rupe Q4 2011
poll collected a nationally representative sample of 1,200
respondents, aged 18 and older from all 50 states and the District
of Columbia using live telephone interviews from December 1-13.
Interviews were conducted on both landline and mobile phones. The
margin of sampling error for this poll is +/- 3 percent.

Follow Emily Ekins on Twitter @emilyekins