Boondoggle. This funny-sounding adjective gets thrown around by lawmakers, voters, and journalists in the discussion around public transportation. It refers to a wasteful or pointless activity, often involving the expenditure of time, money, or resources on a project that is ultimately of little value. Just last year, an annual budget of $317.9 million for public transportation expansion was approved in Austin. When we take a look at the numbers, American cities are no strangers to pouring funding into public transportation projects. So why is public transportation in the U.S. still notoriously bad? Are expansion proposals really ineffective and a waste of money? 

Why does it seem so hard for us when other cities around the world seem to have figured it out? 

Public transportation plans face many obstacles. A major hurdle is that public transportation is not a top priority for most voters and politicians. The rise of private car ownership in the U.S. led to public transportation being seen as a handout to the poor. In the U.S., the issue of public transportation expansion is often framed as an issue of welfare rather than infrastructure. This has perpetuated the system’s low quality and ineffectiveness with little push to fix it. In most cities, buses and trains are mostly used by college students, low-income families, and people of color. Since public transit is their only option, they tolerate a 30-minute wait for a bus that is never on time.

Automobiles, cheap gas, and suburban sprawl have long been hallmarks of the American way of life. The car-centered model of transportation controls most American cities, and despite the efforts of many municipalities, the domination of private cars and highways seems impossible to challenge. Cities like Austin have poured millions of taxpayer dollars into shiny new railway systems and bus routes that sit mostly empty. 

It is no secret that Austin has seen enormous growth in recent years. According to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, from 2010 to 2020 the city saw a 33% increase in population, and is ranked first among the nation’s biggest metros in net migration as a percent of the total population. However, public transit ridership has not seen a similar boom. 

Austin’s public transportation provider, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, more commonly known as CapMetro, has reported that they have yet to break 2 million riders for the 28th consecutive month. The pandemic has only exacerbated the low ridership rates, and in September of 2021, the agency announced that they would reduce the frequency of their routes due to “commuter habit changes.” 

The public transportation system in many American cities today is stuck in a vicious cycle. When fewer people use public transit, profits dwindle, and budgets suffer. They cut services or raise fairs which reduces ridership. Fewer riders mean even less money and worse service or higher fees.

So how do we get more people to ride and break this cycle?

The demand for public transit will not rise until there are fundamental changes to the system. Most public transportation in American cities is designed to shuttle passengers between suburban areas and a downtown center, making suburb-to-suburb connections, crucial for any expanding population, almost impossible.

Low service in the suburbs prevents reliable connections to bus or rail stations without walking long distances or driving. Herein lies the fundamental problem with American public transit: it is unreliable and impractical for the vast majority of people. The key to fixing this broken system is not to get the whole population, or even the majority of the population, to use public transportation, but to make it a viable option for a large number of people in a community. 

The good news is that improving transportation is not like curing cancer or finding a leprechaun; existing tactics can drastically better the system. Two major options that are currently being enacted in Austin are developing good feeder bus systems and building Transit Oriented Developments or TODs for short. 

A reliable feeder bus system can give cities the most bang for their buck. It can bring people to the existing rail line and is significantly cheaper than expanding rail services. In Austin, Project Connect, the transit expansion project approved by Proposition A in November 2020, is seeking to expand three bus rapid transit lines. It will also add nine new park-and-rides throughout the city making the bus lines more accessible. 

Additionally, Austin is investing in a long-term solution, Transit Oriented Developments. Austin’s comprehensive plan, called “Imagine Austin,” lays out a 20-year outlook on how to fundamentally change the city’s urban development. Austin’s Housing and Planning Department defines TODs as “an intentional mixing of land use and transit through the creation of compact, walkable, mixed-use communities within walking distance of a transit stop or station.” In Austin, three areas are under development and regulation: Lamar Blvd./Justin Lane, MLK Jr. Blvd, and Plaza Saltillo. TODs are the ultimate model of making public transportation a viable option for communities by maximizing the amount of residential, business, and leisure space within walking distance of public transportation.

It is clear that public transportation in Austin still has a long way to go, but gradual progress is being made. It is just up to us to stay engaged and interested so that these efforts don’t get hijacked, and truly become a boondoggle.