Transportation Solutions for Texas In The News

An Austin public interest group says if you're like most Americans, you spent your economic stimulus check just like they did. Leah Wolf with the Texas Public Interest Research Group, TexPIRG, says "As prices have steadily climbed, Americans have really just been pouring that money from the stimulus back into their gas tanks."

Wolf says the federal government hoped the rebate would be spent on new goods and services, to jump-start the economy, but rising gas prices changed that. She says since the checks were authorized, gas prices went up 40 percent. She says in Central Texas, the average weekly cost is about $100 a week.

Wolf says long-term solutions, not rebate checks, are what is needed to bolster the economy. She says she hopes lawmakers will make it easier for Texans and other Americans to drive less by supporting public transit options.