Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) In 2018, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) rose sharply by 3.4 percent, the second-largest annual gain in more than 20 years, and GHG emissions have grown by approximately 1.5 percent every year over the last decade. (2) Greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, including cars and trucks, are the largest source of GHG emissions in the United States with the transportation sector emitting 1,900,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually. (3) Annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the United States have nearly tripled since 1971, rising to 3,210,000,000,000 in 2018. (4) Consequently, in 2018, Americans lost an average of 97 hours a year due to congestion, costing them nearly $87,000,000,000. (5) Residents in communities located near high-capacity transit are twice as likely not to own a car as residents who live elsewhere, and they own half as many cars per household. (6) Increasing transit ridership and improving our transit systems in urban, suburban, and exurban areas, using innovative solutions such as land value capture, will help reduce VMT, congestion, GHG emissions, and reliance on fossil fuels and vehicles. By reducing such factors, the United States can help curb the effects of climate change.