The economic stimulus checks intended to alleviate financial burdens caused by a struggling economy have ultimately been spent on gasoline, according to a report released Wednesday.
Households have spent an average of $1,500 on gasoline over the past 19 weeks since the government began to distribute the checks, which provide $1,500 on average to qualifying families, according to the "Squandering the Stimulus" report released by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
The report states that "the situation is akin to families signing over their rebate checks to big oil companies."
The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, signed by President Bush in February, provided the checks, which have not all been distributed. An average American household spends $100 per week on gasoline, up from $60 per week in February, according to the report.
The report claims that public transportation systems, which families often rely on to avoid high gas prices, are inadequate because federal and local lawmakers have not done enough to support public transportation and long-term solutions.
To improve Austin's public transportation systems, local organizations, such as the Texas sect of the research group, are calling on Congress to approve the Saving Energy Through Transportation Act, which would make Austin transportation systems eligible for $6.4 million over the next two years.
"Austin has waited long enough for solutions," said Leah Woolf, citizen outreach director for the group.
Public transit saved Americans 3.4 billion net gallons of oil in 2006, but only a minority of Americans currently have satisfactory access to public transit, according to the report.
"We are going to choke on traffic because our public1transportation system doesn't work," said Glenn Gadbois, director of the Alliance for Public Transportation, a Texas-based nonprofit organization.
America's long-term dependence on oil can be solved through increased public transit alternatives, according to the report.
Officials from the Texas Public Interest Research Group are encouraging local transit officials to put a light-rail proposal on this November's ballot.
Gadbois also said the light rail is a viable public transit alternative for the Austin metro area.
"There are two things [a light rail] does well: It moves more people in less space, and it allows for more development along the rail," he said.
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