The Apollo Alliance recently released a report that calls for a new approach to transportation that will create thousands of new jobs. “To be competitive in the global economy of the future,” the report states, “we must commit to a new, comprehensive transportation strategy that meets our future transportation needs, reduces carbon emissions, and spurs the creation of a strong domestic transportation manufacturing sector.”

This past March, the Apollo Alliance brought together a task force comprising policy experts in transportation, energy, and economic development, as well as leading manufacturers and representatives from labor unions, which became the Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan Task Force. This group examined the options for expanding the domestic production of advanced transit systems, vehicles, clean trucks, and their component parts.

“We are proud to propose a set of practical policies that will rebuild our roads and bridges, double public transit ridership, save $5 billion in oil imports each year, and create 3.7 million jobs in the process—600,000 alone in the manufacturing sector,” said Alliance Executive Director Cathy Calfo. “We began this project nearly one year ago with the convening of an all-star task force and are thrilled to see recent momentum calling for just the set of ideas we, with input from our task force, have developed.”

The report calls for a comprehensive strategy to boost domestic transit and freight manufacturing, starting with an increase in current annual federal investment levels to $30 billion for public transportation and $10 billion for intercity and high-speed rail. Part of this strategy includes combining large-scale investment and focused public policies to augment the nation’s public transportation system with environmentally cleaner methods.

“The time is now to employ a forward thinking national strategy to fix our infrastructure and create millions of jobs,” the report says. “Today we are on the cusp of an emerging low-carbon economy, and we must again use forward-thinking transportation policy to drive national prosperity. The Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan is a national strategy to do just that.”

The text of the report is available here.

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