Political Quotes

“I rise in support today of my carpool promotion amendment. First, I thank the distinguished chairman of the Transportation Committee and the ranking member for introducing this important bill to encourage the use of public transportation in this country. Public transportation obviously needs to be part of a forward thinking 21st century energy strategy. However, in my home State of New Hampshire, many of my constituents live in rural areas where they don't have access to public transit, and many in my district have to commute by car 20 or 30 miles or more just to get to work. Today, in intraday trading, oil hit a record of $140 a barrel, and gas prices are over $4 a gallon for regular gas in New Hampshire. The people I represent are struggling. Many drive more than an hour to work. And we have seen carpooling begin to increase in New Hampshire. With an extremely limited public transportation network, except for city bus service in the cities of Manchester and Concord, often the only option for alternative transportation is carpooling, and the opportunities are often limited for that. Since the average local commuter is spending more than $2,000 a year in gas just to drive to work, if a driver shares his car with just one other occupant and those carpoolers share the cost of gas, obviously they cut their costs for gas in half.”