Chicago suburbanites now favor more transit spending, poll finds

Reflecting the increasing strain of gridlocked traffic, a majority of Chicago-area residents think improving bus and train service is so important to the region that repairing and expanding expressways and toll roads should take a back seat, a Chicago Tribune/WGN poll shows.

Most suburbanites — 52 percent — support investing more in mass transit than roads, sharing the long-held stance of a large majority of city residents, the poll found. Suburban residents also said they are driving less and taking more advantage of expanded suburban train and bus service in communities where the automobile has been king.

Drivers who said they would back spending more on mass transit cited the growing stress associated with congestion; high gasoline prices; and, to a lesser degree, the environmental and financial benefits of riding transit. The findings, reported here, depart substantially from a 1999 Tribune poll, in which only 34 percent of suburban residents said more money should be spent on mass transit than on roads