If we held a contest for the worst federal “investment” over the past half century, mass transit funding would certainly earn a bronze, silver, or maybe even a gold medal.

We got a sneak peak at a new analysis of transit spending and ridership called “$1.8 Trillion for Nothing,” by transportation expert Randall O’Toole, who finds: “the more we spend, the fewer people who use transit.”

According to O’Toole:

“Transit has not relieved congestion. It hasn’t reduced greenhouse gas emissions. It hasn’t helped many low-income people, the vast majority of whom have their own cars and don’t use transit. All this $1.8 trillion has done is enrich a few special interest groups….Transit advocates talk endlessly about the advantages of transit over driving. Americans are paying for it but they aren’t using it.”

Congress and the DOT should defund the mass transit programs.  In many cities it would be cheaper if taxpayers simply hired an Uber driver for every transit rider and stopped the subsidies for trains and light rail that travel mostly empty. One of the worst is in Seattle where the construction costs for planned transit expansions have tripled while ridership has declined.