Mayors Want New Round of Stimulus Funding

According to the New York Times, the United States Conference of Mayors said that they need another round of stimulus funding. There have been layoffs and shortfalls, and job creation is a high priority in urban areas.

According to a June, 2009 study conducted by the conference, 48 percent of approved surface-transportation financing was allocated to metropolitan areas by the states. These areas represent 63 percent of the population and 73 percent of the states' gross domestic product. Of course, statistics can be used selectively to say pretty much whatever you want. What is a logical measurement for allocating surface-transportation dollars? Population? GDP? Road mileage? The cities make a good argument, and the need is there (see my last post, "Where's the Beef?"), but I'm not so sure that population and gdp are the best measurement for distribution of transportation dollars.

Saying that the cities need another infusion of stimulus dollars, Mayor Riley of Charleston, South Carolina said “In the Great Depression they let up too soon and there was further recession. Right now the president needs to avoid making that same mistake.”

Maybe so.