Transportation spending in Western states varies widely

This year's federal transportation budget is $105 billion, and about 80 percent is spent on highways. Almost 40 percent of Americans who depend on public transportation live in rural areas, and "given the West's size and far-apart cities, you might also expect this road-centricity to be more pronounced here," reports Brendon Bosworth of High Country News.

Pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure spending in the West is below the national average, but Bosworth writes "the diferences in the spending of state and federal transport dollars between Western states" says a lot about their priorities. (Read more)