‘Investment in public transport can create 5 million city jobs’

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – In a world reeling from the impact of COVID-19, investing in public transport could create 4.6 million jobs by 2030 and cut transport emissions, mayors in some 100 cities said on Tuesday.

A “green and just recovery” with investment in buses and trains, particularly electric vehicles, would also reduce car use and air pollution, and protect vulnerable residents, said C40, a network of cities pushing for climate action.

“The road to recovery is paved with investments in our infrastructure,” said C40’s Cities Climate Leadership Group chairman and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, in a statement.

“Public transportation is more than just a way to move people around. It’s a vehicle for opportunity, equity, and a better quality of life.”

Several major public transport systems were decimated by the pandemic as cities ground to a halt, with New York predicting a $6 billion deficit in 2021 and Paris losing nearly $4 billion in revenue in 2020, the C40 report said.

Home to 60% of the world’s population, cities have borne the brunt of the crisis, with nearly 100 million people at risk of poverty due to the economic fallout, the report said.

Every $1 invested in public transport could generate $5 in economic returns. Every $1 billion invested could create 50,000 jobs, the report said.

Cities are key to combating climate change because they generate three-quarters of carbon emissions, earlier studies have found, with urgent action needed to meet a 2015 goal to avoid catastrophic warming.