While a new national poll shows only 43% of likely voters support using federal dollars to build “a wall or physical barrier along parts of our southern border to make it harder for people to enter our country illegally,” almost 90% believe “the Democratic leadership and President Trump should work together during 2019 to pass legislation that would improve other infrastructure.”
The poll was conducted Jan. 23-24 by Rasmussen Reports for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, Inc. The margin of sampling error for the poll is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Support for work this year on a broader, bipartisan infrastructure bill was expressed by 88% of both Republican and Democrat likely voters and 84% of those not aligned with either party.
“This survey demonstrates once again that public support for federal investment in traditional infrastructure programs is broad and transcends partisan politics and ideological divides,” says ARTBA President & CEO Dave Bauer. “A bipartisan bill that would make major new federal infrastructure investments would help break the policy gridlock in Washington and have overwhelming public support.”
“This poll shows that people overwhelmingly support Democrats and Republicans coming together to invest in the nation’s infrastructure,” says APTA President & CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. “Americans want to see a bipartisan bill with strong investments in public transit, and other crucial infrastructure because they know it will have wide-ranging benefits for workers, businesses, the economy, and their quality of life.”
The poll also provided insights on why support for a broad infrastructure initiative is so strong. 96% of those surveyed agreed “improving infrastructure like our roads, bridges, public transit, water systems and the power grid” is either “very important” (62 and 64%) or “somewhat important” (34 and 32%) to both “future U.S. economic growth” and “the quality of life of our children and grandchildren.”
The poll showed support or opposition to using federal funds to build a border wall or physical barrier along parts of the southern border broke largely along political party lines. 77% of Republicans support and 80% of Democrats oppose. Non-aligned respondents broke 53% oppose while 40% support.
Established in 1902, ARTBA is the “consensus voice” for the U.S. transportation design and construction industry before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, news media, the courts and general public.
APTA is a nonprofit international association of 1,500 public and private sector organizations which represent a $71 billion industry that directly employs 420,000 people and supports millions of private sector jobs. APTA members are engaged in the areas of bus, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne services, and intercity and high-speed passenger rail. This includes: transit systems; planning, design, construction, and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services and products.
