Several recent studies, including one by the Los Angeles Regional
Transportation Commission and another by Montgomery County, MD, have shown
that for every $1.00 spent on gasoline, only $.15 stays in the regional
economy, and much of the rest leaves the US economy. For that same dollar
spent on public transportation fare, 80 percent goes to wages that are spent
on local goods and services, which in turn generate more that $3.80 in
additional regional economic activity.
This is an exceprt from Urban and Suburban Transportation
Published by the Campaign for New Transportation Priorities March 1991