The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) is asking for public input to help inform its master plan for transportation priorities in the upcoming years. This is an important chance to move the state’s transportation strategy toward policy that helps all Alabamians get where they need to go, including work, doctor’s appointments, and education and job training programs.

You can urge the department to make public transportation a top priority by taking this ALDOT survey by this Friday, Oct. 31. Make sure to emphasize the importance of and need for public transportation improvements.

Alabama still has not invested in the Public Transportation Trust Fund years after its creation. Taking five minutes to make your voice heard can help change that shortcoming.

Please take the ALDOT survey today. Below are a few tips to help guide you through each page of the survey.

Page 1 asks you to evaluate the state’s existing transportation network. Two sections assess the current state of public transit: “Public transit” and “Passenger rail.”
Page 2 asks for up to three issues of concern. Note that “Access to public transit” is one of the available options, along with two other factors eased by better public transportation: “Environmental impacts” and “Traffic congestion.”
Page 3 asks you to weigh the importance of certain goals for the state’s transit system. Options most directly related to public transit in the listed goals are “Expanding public transit options,” “Reducing traffic congestion,” “Improving access for rural and underserved communities” and “Protecting the environment and community quality of life.”
Page 4 asks you to write what you believe the top priority for the transportation plan should be over the next 20 years. This is a good opportunity to explain why investing in an improved public transit system would be the right policy priority.
Page 5 asks you to rank priorities. “Improving and expanding public transit options” is the option connected to public transportation on this page.
Page 6 provides an opportunity to place a marker where you notice transportation needs. In the comment you leave when placing the marker, please make sure to point out specifically that the need you notice is related to public transportation.
Page 7 allows you to provide any additional input.
The next pages ask for your personal transportation habits and demographic questions. Please answer the transportation questions. Feel free to answer the demographic questions if you are comfortable doing so, or skip them if you are not.

This statewide survey is an excellent opportunity to improve ALDOT’s posture toward public transit for decades to come. The agency’s past investment priorities have skewed heavily toward building roads and bridges. But this input period offers a chance to emphasize that making needed investments in public transportation would help all Alabamians.

Please take a few minutes to fill out the ALDOT survey today. Doing so could help tip the scale in favor of investing in a vital public good that benefits all Alabamians, particularly people who are struggling to make ends meet.