Representatives for MASSPIRG at UMB gathered 480 signatures in support of increased funding for public transportation in Massachusetts last Tuesday. The signatures, along with others from Universities across Massachusetts, were sent to Senator Kerry before the following Wednesday Senate voted on President Obama’s Economic Stimulus Plan.

“Right now in the bill, the portion allotted to public transit is mostly going toward building and repairing highways,” said Chris Pond, a UMB sophomore who works with MASSPIRG. “But we would like to see more going toward public transportation. Basically the idea is to have a cleaner city, and to help us get less reliant on older, dirtier energy sources.”

MASSPIRG hopes to create enough buzz to spur legislators to focus their spending plans mainly on programs that will benefit the environment. Increasing funding for public transportation could help reduce pollution by reducing commuter traffic, Pond went on to say.

“Both Senator Kerry and Congressman Michael Capuano have been great champions of global warming legislation, but we want to make sure they do even more to get the Obama Administration to commit to one hundred percent clean energy sources.”

Though no specific plans are in place right now for how to spend money if it were put toward public transportation, MASSPIRG has a number of proposals. Their ideas include expanding the commuter lines and putting in more high speed train lines across the state. Also for Boston itself, MASSPIRG offers suggestions for a number of improvements that could be made such as connecting North Station to South Station, which would drastically cut down commute time for some, and reduce traffic congestion in downtown. Further information on these proposals can be found at massprig.com.

“We want to see the State spending our money on smart solutions that address the larger issues that we face today,” said Pond. “We want to see money put in places where it will create jobs and protect our environment. We don’t want it to go places where it will just compound our problems.”