Alabama’s transportation system forces residents to rely too much on automobiles and undermines the state’s economic growth, according to “Connecting Our Citizens for Prosperity,” an October 2014 report released by Alabama State University’s Center for Leadership and Public Policy. Jon Broadway, Ph.D., and ACPP policy analyst Stephen Stetson are the report’s authors.

Alabama is one of only five states providing no state money for public transportation. That lack of investment effectively isolates many residents who are unable to drive or lack access to private vehicles, the study finds. It also means Alabama is forgoing the new jobs that building and maintaining public transit options would bring, ACPP executive director Kimble Forrister said.

“Our state’s current transportation system simply can’t be sustained,” Forrister said. “Alabama’s failure to invest in public transportation means too many of our neighbors can’t get where they need to go when they need to get there. That doesn’t just hurt them; it hurts our entire state’s economy.”