Many support mass transit, but far fewer use it

Turns out that Onion headline ("98 Percent Of U.S. Commuters Favor Public Transportation For Others.") is pretty close to true. So, how does support turn into use? Excerpt: "They found no statistical connection between respondents who supported transit funding and those who wanted to drive less, or even those willing to use transit if it were more convenient. But respondents who believed "the community would benefit" had a 700 percent increase in odds of being a pro-transit voter. The researchers write in the journal Transportation: Put simply, Americans are more likely to see transit as a way to solve social problems than as a way to get around. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, so long as people indefinitely keep paying for transit they don't use. Perhaps that's even a sign of societal maturity. But problems will arise if voters stop agreeing to devote their taxes to transit, because the broader benefits they've hoped for fail to materialize." Read the rest here.