The Gazette State Bureau wrote in mid-December about DUI problems in Montana and how the situation might be addressed with new laws. Greater penalties are the most commonly discussed solution as the Montana Interim Legislative Law and Justice Committee studies the problem. But that solution will only continue to grow the corrections budget. The solution is not to punish, or fix these people so they can drive again.

What we really need is an alternative to the individual automobile in Montana. We all need alternatives. Instead of spending hundreds of millions of tax dollars on more new highway construction to subsidize the oil industry and the automobile interests, we need to take a fresh new look at alternative transportation systems.

Montana is starting to have success with regional transportation systems, (check out www.ncmtransit.org). We need a large well-funded regional public transportation system in and around Billings.

Instead of more new highways, maintain what we already have and add easy-to-use regional public transit systems in addition to healthy alternatives such as safe walkways and bikeways.

It would be pretty wonderful if we could shift some of those millions of new highway construction tax dollars intended for larger construction projects back into our cities and neighborhoods. Public transit and healthy alternatives are more economical than new highways that would just create more sprawl, more box stores and further thin out our public services like fire protection, police protection and schools.

Source