Unlikely, perhaps, until the problems become so severe that such strong support for public transit becomes mandatory. The longer we procrastinate on these vital issues, the worse the problems will be, more socially disruptive and the solutions more expensive. Perhaps gasoline needs to be $10 a gallon before we get the message, but by then we will have lost crucial time in changing our infrastructure to accommodate to the realities of scarce and expensive energy resources.

During the campaigns leading up to the respective nominations, I heard nothing whatsoever about transit as a possible solution to the explosion in energy costs or ever growing roadway congestion. The cost of energy will shape transportation policy in the future regardless of which millionaire politician resides on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.

After all, the president may try to guide policy, but Congress writes the checks. Convincing our representatives of the value of expanded attention (read: funding) to both mass-transit and intercity rail will go much further than trying to read into the future of an administration from pre-election campaign speeches.

The next two months’ rhetoric will be all about “how bad it is” from one party and “how good it is” from the other. Depending upon our point of view, we will collectively choose one candidate or the other and I honestly doubt that the result for the transit industry will be affected in any measurable way by either one.