Poll: 98% of U.S. adults say transportation important

Nearly all U.S. adults (98%) think that having a very good transportation system is very important or essential for the country, according to a poll. The poll, conducted by Harris Interactive, also found that only 46% of all adults gave the transportation system in their community positive ratings. Fifty-one percent of adults gave positive ratings to the transportation system in the country as a whole. When rating transportation systems by mode, majorities gave positive ratings to long-distance travel by car (69%), local travel by car (64%) and airlines (62%), while ratings declined for long-distance travel by bus (41%) and local bus services (43%). Adults are split more or less equally between those who give positive and negative ratings to commuter trains (51% positive) and long-distance trains (49% positive). These numbers reflect what people think of these modes now, not their priorities and preferences for the future, which will be presented in an upcoming Harris Poll. The nationwide poll of 1,9691 adults was surveyed online between December 8 and 14, 2005.