House Ways and Means proposal to end guaranteed funding for public transportation undoes bipartisan agreement since Reagan
February 2, 2012By Stephen Lee Davis
After service cuts and fare hikes, House leadership plan gives transit riders more to worry about
Reversing policy begun under President Ronald Reagan, House Ways and Means Committee – at the direction of House leadership — could move Friday to end guaranteed funding for public transportation, and leave even today’s inadequate funding levels in doubt.
The proposal to bar public transit from receiving funds from the federal motor fuels tax is part of a bill coming before the House Ways and Means Committee Friday morning. That bill sets the revenue levels for the five-year surface transportation bill making its way through the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee today.
“We are deeply concerned that if this measure passes, Americans who use public transportation, or who would like that option in the future, will be thrown under the bus,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “This couldn’t come at a worse time for people who need an affordable, reliable way to get to work, or for employers who need workers.” Corless noted the demand for transit has been rising as the economy slowly recovers and people are using public transportation to get to jobs and to avoid volatile gas prices. Over the course of the five-year transportation program, America’s population will continue to age rapidly, and a growing number of seniors will be looking to transit services maintain their independence.
Since Ronald Reagan was president, Congress has supported dedicated funding for both highways and transit. For the last 30 years, transit riders and the services they use have been able to depend on guaranteed funding from a mass transit trust fund replenished by a share of federal gasoline taxes. As congestion rose in urban areas, and rural areas saw their share of car-less, low-income families rise, bipartisan support grew for providing transit as a dependable relief valve. Removing the guaranteed funding would mean that transit would have to compete each year for general fund revenues that are in line for deep cuts in coming years.
“American workers and their employers already are dealing with deep uncertainties in these times of fiscal crisis,” said John Robert Smith, co-chair of Transportation for America and President of Reconnecting America. “As local tax revenues have dropped, transit service is being cut, fares raised, and maintenance is being deferred. Seniors in rural areas are waiting hours for a ride to the doctor, veterans have very few transportation options to get them to VA centers, and workers in cities don’t know when the next bus is coming. Putting these services in jeopardy would be a cruel blow to these Americans.”
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Transit flexibility bill introduced by Senator Brown is badly needed in many cities
December 16, 2011By Stephen Lee Davis
WASHINGTON, DC — This week, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced the Local Flexibility for Transit Assistance Act, which would give local transit agencies flexibility in how they choose to allocate federal funding, especially during times of economic crisis. It provides transit systems with the option to use a portion of their federal transit funds for operating assistance to keep buses and trains running and avoid potential fare increases. This bill is the Senate companion to H.R. 3200, introduced by Representatives Carnahan and LaTourette.
Sarah Kline, Policy Director at Reconnecting America, released the following statement on Transportation for America’s behalf:
“This bill from Senator Brown is badly needed in many cities across the country. We are in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with gas prices wildly fluctuating, and hard-working Americans need more affordable transportation options. Despite booming ridership, transit agencies across the country are having to cut service or raise fares, leaving people stranded without a way to get to work, to school, or to the doctor. This bill by Senator Brown will help to ensure that people in cities of all sizes can continue relying on public transportation to get them where they need to go.”
Transportation for America responds to Senate Commerce Committee actions on transportation authorization
December 14, 2011By Transportation for America
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate Commerce Committee today adopted two key policy measures for the upcoming authorization of the federal transportation program. The “Surface Transportation and Freight Policy Act of 2011” establishes policy goals for the federal surface transportation program, such as addressing congestion, improving access to multiple travel options, supporting domestic manufacturing and reducing impacts on the environment and public health. It also directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to create a national surface transportation and freight strategic plan and establishes a multimodal grant program for alleviating bottlenecks in the freight system.
An amendment offered by Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska), and modified by Senator Thune (R-SD), directs the DOT Secretary to “establish standards to ensure that the design of Federal surface transportation projects provides for the safe and adequate accommodation … of all users of the transportation network, including motorized and non-motorized users.”
Transportation for America’s director, James Corless, offered this statement in response:
“The Commerce Committee’s measures offer critical policy direction at a time when our key national infrastructure program is in urgent need of renewed focus and reinvigoration. Establishing national goals and performance-based objectives for our investment in transportation would be a vast improvement over our current system, improving accountability and transparency of federal transportation spending. The Surface Transportation and Freight Policy Act would go a long way toward ensuring that we get the most bang for the buck from our increasingly constrained transportation dollars.
At a time when pedestrian fatalities and injuries are rising as other traffic fatalities fall, the Begich amendment would help to improve safety for everyone on our roads and save money. With support from the full Senate and incorporation into the House’s companion bill, these measures would establish safety, fairness and efficiency as the hallmarks of the next authorization.”
Transportation for America Response to Senate EPW Reauthorization Bill
November 9, 2011By Transportation for America
After the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee moved their draft transportation bill (MAP-21) out of committee with a successful bipartisan vote this morning, T4 America Director James Corless offered this statement:
“The bipartisan passage of the MAP-21 bill in the Senate EPW Committee this morning provides a significant opportunity to move forward on a long overdue authorization of federal transportation policy with full funding to ensure we invest in America’s infrastructure. Key reforms in the bill would place a stronger emphasis on repairing and rebuilding our roads and bridges, while instituting performance measures that will help hold agencies accountable for the maintenance and operations of our transportation network.
“We will work with Chairman Boxer and Ranking Member Inhofe and the rest of the Committee to ensure that there is dedicated funding that prioritizes bicycle and pedestrian projects, strong workforce development provisions and smart transportation planning reforms. We are eager to address these issues so we can put the full strength and weight of our coalition behind the bill as it moves forward in order to make the most of our federal transportation dollars, put people back to work and deliver the transportation system that Americans need.”
U.S. Senate preserves critical funding for transportation in key budget vote
November 1, 2011By Transportation for America
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, members of the U.S. Senate voted 69 to 30 to approve a $128 billion “minibus” appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Transportation, alongside several other departments. James Corless, director of Transportation for America, issued the following statement in response:
“Today’s vote in the Senate to preserve current levels of infrastructure investment is an important signal that there is overwhelming bipartisan support to invest in job-creating transportation projects.
“With this vote, the Senate chose to protect vital funding for Amtrak, which recently announced record-breaking ridership. The Senate also preserves support for the innovative and successful New Starts and TIGER grants programs. Competitive programs like these are already bringing a long-overdue focus on performance to our nation’s transportation system.
“The Senate was wise to defeat amendments aimed at weakening funding for projects to make walking and bicycling safer. We look forward to continuing to work with both parties to make prudent transportation investments without jeopardizing programs that keep Americans safe on our roads.”
New Report Ranks Deficient Bridges by Metro Areas
October 19, 2011By Transportation for America
A new look at structurally deficient bridges in metropolitan areas finds that just a quarter of U.S. bridges, located in our largest metropolitan areas, carry 75 percent of all traffic crossing a deficient bridge each day.
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| Click to learn more or download the full report, which includes data for all 102 metropolitan areas over 500,000 people. |
On the heels of the sudden closure of a major commuting bridge in Louisville, KY, a new report shows that more than 18,000 of the nation’s busiest bridges, clustered in the nation’s metro areas, are rated as “structurally deficient,” according to this new report from Transportation for America.
In Los Angeles, for example, an average 396 drivers cross a deficient bridge every second, the study found. The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Nation’s Busiest Bridges, ranks 102 metro areas in three population categories based on the percentage of deficient bridges.
The report found that Pittsburgh, PA had the highest percentage of deficient bridges (30.4 percent) for a metro area with a population of over 2 million (and overall). Oklahoma City, OK (19.8 percent) topped the chart for metro areas between 1-2 million, as did Tulsa, OK (27.5 percent) for metro areas between 500,000-1 million.
At the other end of the spectrum, the metro areas that had the smallest percentage of deficient bridges are: Orlando, FL (0.60 percent) for the largest metro areas; Las Vegas (0.20 percent) for mid-sized metro areas; and Fort Myers, FL (0.30 percent) for smaller metro areas.
“There are more deficient bridges in our metropolitan areas than there are McDonald’s restaurants in the entire country,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America, 18,239 versus roughly 14,000 McDonald’s. “These metropolitan-area bridges are most costly and difficult to fix, but they also are the most urgent, because they carry such a large share of the nation’s people and goods.”
Nearly 70,000 bridges nationwide are rated “structurally deficient” and are in need of substantial repair or replacement, according to federal data. Metropolitan-area bridges carry 75 percent of the trips that are made on structurally deficient bridges, he noted.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates that the backlog of potentially dangerous bridges would cost $70.9 billion to eliminate, while the federal outlay for bridges amounts to slightly more than $5 billion per year.
“The recent shutdown of the Sherman-Minton Bridge between Kentucky and Indiana was yet another reminder of the urgent need to repair our nation’s bridges,” Corless said. “A sincere initiative to fix these bridges would put thousands of people to work while ensuring that these critical links continue to carry people safely to work and that goods can make it to market, now and well into the future.”
Congress has repeatedly declared the condition and safety of America’s bridges to be of national significance. However, the current federal program falls short of the need, even as it allows states to shift funds from maintenance toward new construction, whether or not they can show progress toward rehabilitating deficient bridges.
Some states have worked hard to address the problem and have seen their backlog of deficient bridges shrink in number. However, two problems continue to persist: Existing federal programs offer no real incentives or assurances that aging bridges will actually get fixed; and the current level of investment is nowhere near what is needed to keep up with our rapidly growing backlog of aging bridges.
Last month, President Obama introduced his jobs bill before the Brent Spence bridge in Cincinnati, OH, just weeks after engineers shutdown the Sherman-Minton Bridge due to cracks in the bridge supports, and also identified potential faults in the nearby Kennedy Bridge. Since then, the President has regularly highlighted the poor state of our nation’s bridges and the need to pass a jobs bill that will put construction workers and engineers back to work repairing our bridges and highways.
“The poor condition of our bridges is a problem that is not going away,” said Andy Herrmann, president-elect of the American Society of Civil Engineers, “Most of the nation’s bridges were designed to last 50 years, and today, roughly a third are already 50 years or older.”
In order to prevent future catastrophes on our nation’s roads and bridges, the report recommends that Congress should:
- Provide states with increased resources to repair and rebuild. States need federal support to back their efforts to prioritize repair and maintenance.
- Ensure that funds sent to states for bridge repair are used only for that purpose, unless a state can show it has addressed its repair needs.
- Require that new or rehabilitated be built so that they are safe for everyone who uses them, whether they are in vehicles, on foot or bicycle, or using public transit.
T4 applauds transit flexibility bill introduced by Reps. Carnahan and LaTourette
October 14, 2011By Transportation for America
WASHINGTON, DC — This week, Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) introduced the Local Flexibility for Transit Assistance Act, which would give local transit agencies more options in how they choose to allocate federal funding. Sarah Kline, Policy Director at Reconnecting America, released the following statement on Transportation for America’s behalf:
“Representatives Carnahan and LaTourette have hit the nail on the head with this bill. In the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, with gas prices wildly fluctuating, hard-working Americans need affordable transportation choices. But transit agencies across this country are having to cut service, leaving people stranded without a way to get to work, or to school, or to the doctor. This bill will help to ensure that people in cities large and small can continue to rely on public transportation to get them where they need to go.”
T4 America commends House leaders for seeking additional $100 billion in funding for transportation bill
September 27, 2011By Transportation for America
WASHINGTON, DC — House Republican leaders, in consultation with Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica, are actively seeking $100 billion in new revenue to fund reauthorization of the nation’s surface transportation bill. James Corless, director of Transportation for America, issued the following statement in response:
“We applaud the decision by House Republican leaders to obtain $100 billion in additional revenue for the next transportation bill. Investing in our nation’s infrastructure will help create jobs, increase our long-term competitiveness and improve safety.
“Now, with a commitment to sufficient funding levels, we look forward to working with Chairman Mica on a new bill that puts Americans to work fixing our nation’s roads and bridges, while improving access to safe and reliable travel options and holding states accountable for every taxpayer dollar.”
President Obama’s Ohio visit again highlights the vast and growing need to address America’s aging and deficient bridges
September 22, 2011By Transportation for America
On the same day the President visits a critical bridge in Cincinnati, these state and county level data and an interactive map of structurally deficient bridges across the U.S. shows that bridge repair needs touch every community.
President Obama’s visit to the Brent Spence Bridge bordering Ohio and Kentucky calls much-needed attention to the urgency of bridge repair and rehabilitation throughout the country. Those needs are clearly visible in the detailed state-by-state reports, and county level bridge data (including an interactive, searchable map of every deficient bridge in America) being made available today at http://t4america.org/resources/bridges/states/.
The President’s event comes on the heels of last week’s closure of the 49-year old Sherman Minton Bridge over the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and New Albany, Indiana after cracks were found in the support structure. Like similar bridges nationwide, the heavily travelled bridge is crucial to the economy of both states and for commuters crossing the river to get to work.
Today, nearly 70,000 bridges nationwide— about one in nine —are classified as “structurally deficient,” in need of close monitoring and near-term repair, according to data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Transportation agencies would need $70.9 billion to overcome the current backlog of deficient bridges.
“As the President has noted, a serious effort to address the backlog of structurally deficient bridges would be an immediate source of jobs, doing work that desperately needs to be done,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “Our coalition members, in nearly every state of the union, have long noted this situation, and are gratified to hear the call echoed by high-profile leaders.”
Transportation for America’s spring report, “The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Nation’s Bridges” tallied the structurally deficient bridges nationwide. T4 America is also making available county-by-county lists of structurally deficient bridges, and their rankings, for those who would like to evaluate the depth of their own local needs.
In addition to funding needed maintenance today, T4 America urges Congress to also enact tough guidelines in the next transportation bill to ensure that precious taxpayer dollars prioritize making existing bridges safe. One logical step forward would be Senator Ben Cardin’s Preservation and Renewal of Federal-Aid Highways Act, which would require the Secretary of Transportation to establish “state of good repair” standards for highways and bridges that receive federal funding, ensuring that federal dollars are targeted toward the most pressing needs first and holding states accountable for improving the condition of their infrastructure.
“Congress has a dual task right now of giving a weak economy a needed boost while creating the conditions for future growth and economic opportunity,” Corless added. “Providing a near-term boost to rebuild infrastructure, coupled with a comprehensive update of the long-term federal transportation bill will put people to work building the physical assets that will serve the country for decades to come. We appreciate the President’s focus on infrastructure and look forward to working with both the administration and Congress on getting something done.”
You can learn more about “The Fix We’re in For: The State of Our Nation’s Bridges” at http://t4america.org/resources/bridges/
Senate committee preserves transportation funding, restores high-speed rail money
September 21, 2011By Stephen Lee Davis
Senate appropriators approved their draft bill setting spending levels for housing and transportation departments for 2012, preserving competitive intermodal programs and approving an amendment to restore a small amount of high-speed rail funding
A day after a markup in subcommittee that preserved TIGER and Amtrak funding but cut high-speed rail entirely, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its 2012 Transportation-HUD spending bill Wednesday. An amendment offered by Senators Durbin, Lautenberg, Feinstein and Landrieu to provide $100 million for high speed and intercity passenger rail passed by voice vote in committee, meaning votes weren’t recorded.
Contrasted with the House’s 2012 bill, the Senate version doesn’t make the same drastic cuts from current funding levels for transportation and preserves important programs like TIGER that foster competition and use performance and bang for the buck as yardsticks to decide which projects to fund.
“The Senate is to be commended for preserving the current levels of investment in transportation,” said T4 America director James Corless. “With thousands of Americans out of work, now is not the time to cut spending on transportation and add to the unemployment rolls. Competitive programs like TIGER have been instrumental in starting to move toward a more performance-based system that takes a range of factors into account when deciding what projects to fund. The Senate also protected the vital New Starts funding to help expand urgently needed public transportation systems across the country, as well as funding for Amtrak and passenger rail.”
“While $100 million is far less than recent yearly spending on high-speed rail, the vote by Senate appropriators today to restore funding for high speed rail is a statement that this program is important to the country’s future and should continue to be funded,” continued Corless. ”This modest investment will help continue states’ momentum in building and planning their passenger rail networks; networks that are important to giving Americans other options for traveling within and through regions.”
The House and Senate are likely to pass a “continuing resolution” in the coming weeks to continue funding the government for another few months, meaning that at some point the House and Senate will have to come together to reconcile their very two different versions of this bill.
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- House committee ignores broad opposition, decimates transit funding anyway
February 3, 2012 - Massive letter opposing House leadership attack on transit sent to Capitol Hill
February 3, 2012 - House leadership making unprecedented assault on public transit
February 2, 2012 - House Ways and Means proposal to end guaranteed funding for public transportation undoes bipartisan agreement since Reagan
February 2, 2012 - Pedestrian deaths, blaming the victim: headphones edition
January 19, 2012
- House committee ignores broad opposition, decimates transit funding anyway
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