Doesn't appear THAT bad on federal front, but if this is all the federal investment will provide for transit, it's not enough to meet ridership growth demand and keeping systems in a state of good repair....

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,7852.msg572578.html#msg572578

 

Port Authority braces for another slash to service

35% reduction possible if funding doesn't increase

 

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

The Port Authority has begun preparing for service cuts that are more than twice the size of the reductions that took effect in March, when thousands of riders were stranded and others jammed into overcrowded buses.

 

CEO Steve Bland told the authority board last week that planning has begun for a 35 percent reduction in service hours that will come next fall if Gov. Tom Corbett and the Legislature fail to act on a statewide transportation funding shortfall.

 

"At the moment, there is no indication that a transportation funding solution is on the immediate horizon," he said.

 

 

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11333/1193283-53.stm#ixzz1fDFb1ke2

MI: Regional Transit Bills Linked to Creation of a Third Bus System

BY BILL SHEA; [email protected], CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS

Created: December 2, 2011

 

The latest attempt to create a regional transit authority to oversee bus and train service in metro Detroit could see bills introduced as soon as this week, transportation industry watchers say.

 

The legislation is expected to be linked to the creation of a third bus system for the region, a network of high-speed buses in dedicated lanes that would operate separately from the Detroit Department of Transportation and the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation.

 

It's believed that the bills, developed in conjunction with a regional transit task force of local, state and federal officials, will be sponsored by Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, who is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/10457072/mi-regional-transit-bills-linked-to-creation-of-a-third-bus-system

Bipartisan Senate coalition calls for extension of mass-transit commuter benefit

 

Last week, U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) joined a bipartisan coalition of 20 additional senators in urging the Senate Finance Committee to include an extension of the mass-transit commuter tax credit in any relevant legislation the Senate takes up before the benefit expires at year’s end.

 

If the credit is not renewed, the cost of commuting will increase by up to 22 percent for mass transit users, the senators said in a joint statement issued on Dec. 9.

 

In a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the senators wrote: “Commuter benefits are one of the core benefits offered by employers, after health, retirement and disability benefits. This important benefit eases the burden of commuting costs on families, relieves congestion, reduces the stress on our highway system and decreases our reliance on foreign oil.”

 

Read more at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/federal_legislation_regulation/news/Bipartisan-Senate-coalition-calls-for-extension-of-masstransit-commuter-benefit--29174

After putting it off for a few year, Boston is facing very steep fare hikes and/or some seriously draconian fare hikes that could cost it 10+% of its ridership:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/01/04/t_proposes_fare_hikes_sharp_cuts_in_service/

Indiana legislators won't even give the people in and around Indy the chance to vote on funding transit....

 

Central Indiana mass-transit bill dies in committee

 

The Statehouse FileJanuary 26, 2012--The Indiana House Ways and Means Committee defeated a bill Thursday that could have led to an expanded mass-transportation system in Indianapolis and surrounding counties.

 

The committee voted 11-10 against the legislation, which had been backed by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and other local officials.

 

House Bill 1073 would have allowed voter referendums in Marion and Hamilton counties for the purpose of raising taxes to fund an expanded bus and train system.

 

Read more at: http://www.ibj.com/central-indiana-masstransit-bill-dies-in-committee/PARAMS/article/32190

Indiana = "Ohio, Part Duh." Seriously though, I wonder what these communities' legal recourse might be?

 

Indiana is also refusing to provide operating funding support to the Chicago-Detroit rail corridor, even though Illinois and Michigan have tentatively agreed to do so. I suspect that means that Michigan's trains to Chicago (all of which are or will soon be state-sponsored) will travel through Indiana without stopping and their doors locked. Since those are the only trains that serve Amtrak's stations in Hammond/Whiting and in Michigan City, expect those stations to be closed.

All i can see is chaos once gas is gone.

LaHood proposes streamlining transit funding; business groups petition for transportation funding bill

 

Yesterday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood proposed streamlining the way transit projects compete for federal funds.

A day after President Obama said in his State of the Union speech that federal agencies should cut red tape in construction projects, LaHood outlined a plan that would speed up the time it takes major projects to move through the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) New Starts pipeline.

 

“This proposal would move more job-generating bus, rail and ferry projects from the drawing boards into construction sooner and with less red tape along the way,” LaHood said in a prepared statement.

 

The streamlined process would allow the FTA to focus more on economic development and other local needs when evaluating New Starts projects. The proposal also would reduce or eliminate certain time-consuming requirements that are duplicative or unnecessary, LaHood said.

 

Read more at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/federal_legislation_regulation/news/LaHood-proposes-streamlining-transit-funding-business-groups-petition-for-transportation-funding-bill--29625

All i can see is chaos once gas is gone.

 

I see chaos from something more near-term and realistic. The gas won't be gone, but much of Indiana's young population will be. Young people in GenY want low-mileage lifestyles, and they are already moving out of Indiana (and Ohio) to get them. The next largest generation are the Baby Boomers, and 10,000 of them are retiring every day. Those that don't leave for the Sun Belt will be driving a lot less, and that means a sharp drop in gas tax revenues. That means gas taxes, license fees and other revenues will have to go up, or roads will fall apart and thus cause our cars to fall apart. Either way it's going to get a lot more expensive to drive even if the price of gasoline doesn't change. That also means an economic decline for Indiana (and Ohio) because of fewer GenY'ers, fewer aging Boomers, fewer people driving, fewer jobs.

 

Or we can pay for the transition to a diversified transportation system in Indiana (and Ohio) while we still have the economic base to afford it. Otherwise, if you want to see Indiana's (and Ohio's) economic future, drive out to the small towns far from the metro areas, then count the elderly and the impoverished. The young professionals out there are as rare a sight as spotting a bus, active train station or bike path.

The road not taken on mass transit

5:59 PM, Jan. 26, 2012 

 

The utter dysfunction of the Indiana General Assembly was on full display Thursday in the House Ways and Means Committee.

 

That committee voted 11-10 to kill legislation that would have authorized a public vote this fall on a mass transit system for Hamilton and Marion counties.

 

The bill died not because committee members oppose a better bus system and possible rail lines in Central Indiana but because the legislation carried language that touched on the hyper-controversial issue of "right to work."

 

What does "right to work" have to do with bus routes? Virtually nothing.

 

Read more at: http://www.indystar.com/article/20120127/OPINION08/201270312/The-road-not-taken-mass-transit?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7COpinion%7Cp

 

Transit Tax Switch to Roads Passed by U.S. House Panel

February 03, 2012, 5:30 PM EST

By Lisa Caruso

 

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- A U.S. House committee voted to stop letting gasoline-tax revenue be used for mass-transit projects, over opposition from groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

 

The Ways and Means Committee today voted 20-17 for a proposal to stop devoting 2.86 cents of the 18.4-cent gasoline tax paid by U.S. motorists to public transportation. The money would instead go toward keeping a U.S. account for road and bridge construction solvent.

 

The bill also would finance highway and bridge construction with revenue from expanded oil and natural-gas drilling on government land and offshore. The committee, before approving the bill, rejected an attempt by Democrats to strike the gasoline-tax provision.

 

“This is a dead end; this can’t pass” the Republican- controlled House, said Representative Sander Levin of Michigan, the panel’s ranking Democrat.

 

Read more at: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-03/transit-tax-switch-to-roads-passed-by-u-s-house-panel.html

 

This thread is supposed to be for what transit agencies and other states are doing to fund transit or deal with transit funding issues. But I understand why you posted a federal transportation policy story here -- AND in the federal transportation policy thread. This story affects both.

Invitation to gridlock

Cars yes, trains no?

Chicago Tribune Editorial

February14, 2012

 

Washington is famous for political gridlock. Now it seems, House Speaker John Boehner wants to gridlock the nation's big cities too.

 

Boehner is pushing this week for passage of a five-year, $260 billion transportation bill that would take money from the mass transit systems of Chicago and other cities and funnel it to roads.

 

Boehner and other Republican leaders contend that motorists unfairly subsidize public transportation through gasoline taxes. It's true that 2.86 cents of the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gasoline tax goes to mass transit. Boehner wants that money to go to roads so billions of dollars can go to those projects without having to raise the gas tax.

 

Mass transit? It would have to compete with other federal priorities for money.

 

This is a bad idea.

 

Read full editorial at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-transit-20120214,0,4796921.story

One can't help but be in awe of not only how huge and expansive California's freeways are, but also of high-tech they're becoming. Now, Metro is launching an ExpressLanes program, which will introduce congestion pricing on HOV lanes for single-occupancy vehicles, with variable tolls based on traffic volume. Revenue from the tolls will fund transit improvements in corridors where the freeways are located.

IL: Chicago-area Gas Tax Hike Proposed to Fund Mass Transit Investment

JON HILKEVITCH SOURCE: CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Mass transit supporters proposed state legislation Wednesday that would increase the gas tax in the Chicago area to raise a projected $168 million over five years for the CTA, Metra and Pace.

 

March 01--Mass transit supporters proposed state legislation Wednesday that would increase the gas tax in the Chicago area to raise a projected $168 million over five years for the CTA, Metra and Pace.

 

The legislation seeks to index the state motor fuel tax to inflation, with annual adjustments, to ensure a dedicated transit funding source, officials said.

 

The state gas tax, 19 cents per gallon, was last increased in 1990.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/10635571/il-chicago-area-gas-tax-hike-proposed-to-fund-mass-transit-investment?cmpid=email_MASS120302002&utm_source=Mass+Transit+Newsletter+Views&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MASS120302002

 

I hope you're taking notes, Ohio.....

 

Environment for support of public transit is changing in Michigan

Published: Sunday, April 01, 2012, 6:00 AM    Updated: Sunday, April 01, 2012, 7:41 AM

  By Rick Haglund

 

Efforts to boost public transportation in Michigan too often have gone off the rails.

 

Consider, for example, that, in the past 23 years, there have been 23 failed attempts to create a regional transportation authority in Southeast Michigan.

 

But the environment for public transit appears to be changing.

 

That’s mostly a result of ambivalence toward cars by young people, and growing support from business and governmental leaders who see mass transit as a key driver of economic development.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/04/environment_for_support_of_pub.html

Glendening: Voters will support transportation projects

Batlimore Sun Op-Ed

April 19, 2012

 

State Sen. Jim Rosapepe should be applauded for his statement on transportation funding ("Put transportation in voters' hands," April 11). Identifying funding streams for transportation investments is a national political debate. Many understand the extraordinary need to invest in rebuilding our transportation infrastructure, but no one has taken the initiative to Senator Rosapepe's level. It will take a great amount of political courage to achieve his vision.

 

Three thoughts came to mind in response to his column.

 

First, through local and regional transit referenda, citizens across the country have voted for specific types of tax increases to invest more in transportation and public transit projects. More than 300 local or regional transit measures were put on the ballot between 2000 and 2010 with an average approval rate of 70 percent. Many were held not in the typical Northeast region but in states such as North Carolina, Michigan and Texas. These figures show that, clearly, Americans are willing to pay for improved transportation systems, especially transit.

 

 

Read full op-ed at:http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-04-19/news/bs-ed-glendening-transportation-letter-20120419_1_public-transit-regional-transit-transportation

Another example of government naiveté when it comes to transportation... Legislators slash transit funding that forces Pittsburgh to cut 35 percent of its transit services (on top of recent cuts) and then legislators approve transferring private-sector transit licensing from one agency (PAT) that has OK'd every request to another (PUC) in the hopes that private funding for transit will somehow magically appear? If you don't provide subsidies to transit like you do to roads, then you lose transit service. End of story. Naiveté....

 

PA: Public Transit Bill Heads to Governor

ADAM BRANDOLPH AND TOM FONTAINE

SOURCE: THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Created: June 6, 2012

 

June 06--House Majority Leader Mike Turzai said a bill that passed the state Senate on Tuesday would increase competition for the Port Authority of Allegheny County, but a private transportation company that stands to benefit said the legislation does not change anything.

 

The bill sponsored by Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, and Mark Mustio, R-Moon, allows private transit companies that want to offer routes within Allegheny County to apply to the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission for approval rather than to the Port Authority, as law now requires.

 

"You're going to see areas that have not been served or that have been underserved ultimately get some service," Turzai said. "Eliminating a transit monopoly is a win-win for taxpayers and transit riders."

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/10725800/pa-public-transit-bill-heads-to-governor?cmpid=email_MASS120531002&utm_source=MASS+NewsViews+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MASS120531002

Georgia's statewide transportation funding ballot issue fails in 9 of 12 regions, all outside of Atlanta. And all the projects in those three regions where it passed were all highway-related.

 

So Metro Atlanta goes back to the drawing board to find a way to pay for more than $7 billion worth of road, rail and transit improvements.....

 

http://www.ajc.com/news/transportation-referendum/voters-reject-transportation-tax-1488552.html?src=cb_article

12/28/2012 9:30:00 AM   

 

USDOT finalizes changes to New Starts/Small Starts grant program

 

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) unveiled a streamlined approach to the New Starts/Small Starts grant program.

 

The changes are designed to cut bureaucracy, reduce regulations for communities that seek funding, and help get critical transit projects up and running more quickly, FTA officials said in a prepared statement.

 

The changes are estimated to save about $500,000 annually by requiring less paperwork and allowing communities to prequalify for certain projects, they said.

 

 

Read more at:  http://www.progressiverailroading.com/prdailynews/news.asp?id=33796

12/28/2012 9:30:00 AM   

 

USDOT finalizes changes to New Starts/Small Starts grant program

 

 

The entire transit agency and engineering/consulting world was spending this past week and probably part of next week reading the new regs.

Illinois transportation agency to sue United; says it runs 'sham' business to avoid fuel taxes

By Don Babwin, The Associated Press | Associated Press – 3 hrs ago

 

CHICAGO - A transportation agency plans to file a lawsuit Monday alleging that United Airlines is falsely claiming to buy huge amounts of jet fuel out of a small, rural Illinois office that doesn't even have a computer to avoid paying tens of millions of dollars in taxes in Chicago, where the purchases are allegedly being made.

 

The Regional Transportation Authority alleges United Aviation Fuels Corp., a subsidy of United Airlines, has operated a "sham" office in the DeKalb County community of Sycamore since 2001 after reaching an agreement to pay the town more than $300,000 a year — a fraction of what it would have owed in sales taxes in Chicago and Cook County.

 

"The only reason that United Fuels has an office in Sycamore is to attempt to create a sham tax situs (location) for fuel sales in a lower taxing jurisdiction," reads a draft of the lawsuit obtained by The Associated Press.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://news.yahoo.com/illinois-transportation-agency-sue-united-says-runs-sham-141352841.html

'Transit deserts' in Chicago region's mass transit system: report

February 05, 2014|By Richard Wronski | Tribune reporter

 

The Chicago area’s mass transit agencies are doing a poor job of serving the commuting needs of the region -- portions of which are “transit deserts” — while planning efforts are haphazard, a new report says.

 

Even major suburban job centers, such as the bustling I-90 Corridor from O’Hare to Schaumburg; the crowded Oak Brook area and booming Naperville, “are not well-served by transit,” and most jobs in the region can’t be reached in a 90-minute commute, the analysis found.

 

The region will fail to meet a goal of doubling transit use by 2040, so efforts “must be refocused with customer satisfaction as the primary objective,” said a draft report prepared for the Northeastern Illinois Transit Task Force.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-02-05/news/chi-report-areas-mass-transit-system-not-on-pace-to-reach-2040-goal-20140205_1_transit-system-transit-use-draft-report

It ain't just rail projects that the crazies are trying to stop....

 

"@T4America: As feds OK funding, state legislators move to block Nashville’s planned transit investment. http://t.co/yGsGay3A6W"

Rural Indiana legislators let #Indianapolis voters to consider transit as long as it doesn't include #rail

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/12/progress-made-on-mass-transit-compromise/6334335/

 

Well, it's good thing these right-wingers want to reduce government control over our lives. 

And about 200 miles north...,

 

TransportationNation ‏@TransportNation  3m

A Chicago-area task force has come up with two plans to overhaul the region's transit system. http://wny.cc/1gsY8or

 

 

Tennessee Passes Mind-Boggling Ban on Bus Rapid Transit

By Keith Barry

 

Tennessee lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor a bill that bans the construction of bus rapid transit (BRT) anywhere in the state.

 

The impetus for the vote was a proposal to build a $174 million BRT system in Nashville called The Amp, which would’ve ran on a 7.1 mile route and served rapidly growing neighborhoods across the city. There’s a more detailed summary of the project over at The Tennessean.

 

Although BRT has been shown to revitalize economies and reduce congestion, opponents of The Amp voiced concerns about the safety of unloading bus passengers along roadways and whether private land would be used to build dedicated bus lanes.

 

After the vote, Amp opponents revealed that the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, founded with the support of brothers Charles and David Koch, had lobbied in favor of the bus ban.

 

http://www.wired.com/2014/04/tennessee-bans-bus-rapid-transit/

 

 

Brilliant!

 

The Atlanta Transit Agency's Big Plan to Convert Parking Lots into Housing

MARTA sees real estate as a gateway to better train and bus service.

ERIC JAFFE @e_jaffe Jul 21, 2014 14 Comments

 

MARTA, the transit authority for metro Atlanta, is quietly becoming a player in the real estate world, and it has its excess parking to thank. In the past few months, the agency has pushed forward with plans to develop under-used parking lots at three stations—King Memorial, Avondale, and Edgewood/Candler Park—into mixed-use commercial and residential buildings. And MARTA expects to secure at least two more such deals by early next year.

 

Talk about a shift from cars to transit.

 

The moves are part of a broader push by MARTA to capitalize on the transit-oriented development occurring in and around the city. Rather than sit on the sidelines during the resurgence, the agency decided to join the action. MARTA officials expect the new TOD program to pay off twice over: first, by pumping revenue from the projects back into the system's trains and buses, and second, by enticing residents who move into the buildings onto the trains.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2014/07/the-atlanta-transit-agencys-big-plan-to-convert-parking-lots-into-housing/374735/

Pennsylvania adopts plan to invest billions in transportation improvements over next 12 years

8/15/2014

 

Pennsylvania's State Transportation Commission has updated a statewide transportation plan that calls for allocating $63.2 billion over the next 12 years for improvements to railroads, transit systems, roads, bridges and airports, state officials announced yesterday.

 

The available dollars stem from the Pennsylvania Legislature's passage of Act 89, a new transportation funding law that will add $2.3 billion per year in transportation investments by 2017, according to a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) press release.

 

State officials anticipate budgeting $7.9 billion for public transit, $228 million for Pennsylvania's freight-rail system and $284 million for a newly created multi-modal fund in the first four years of the newly adopted program, which takes effect Oct. 1.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_rail/news/Pennsylvania-adopts-plan-to-invest-billions-in-transportation-improvements-over-next-12-years--41513

Pennsylvania adopts plan to invest billions in transportation improvements over next 12 years

8/15/2014

 

Pennsylvania's State Transportation Commission has updated a statewide transportation plan that calls for allocating $63.2 billion over the next 12 years for improvements to railroads, transit systems, roads, bridges and airports, state officials announced yesterday.

 

The available dollars stem from the Pennsylvania Legislature's passage of Act 89, a new transportation funding law that will add $2.3 billion per year in transportation investments by 2017, according to a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) press release.

 

State officials anticipate budgeting $7.9 billion for public transit, $228 million for Pennsylvania's freight-rail system and $284 million for a newly created multi-modal fund in the first four years of the newly adopted program, which takes effect Oct. 1.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_rail/news/Pennsylvania-adopts-plan-to-invest-billions-in-transportation-improvements-over-next-12-years--41513

 

Wow. Can you imagine what we could do with a fund like that?

Pennsylvania adopts plan to invest billions in transportation improvements over next 12 years

8/15/2014

 

Pennsylvania's State Transportation Commission has updated a statewide transportation plan that calls for allocating $63.2 billion over the next 12 years for improvements to railroads, transit systems, roads, bridges and airports, state officials announced yesterday.

 

The available dollars stem from the Pennsylvania Legislature's passage of Act 89, a new transportation funding law that will add $2.3 billion per year in transportation investments by 2017, according to a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) press release.

 

State officials anticipate budgeting $7.9 billion for public transit, $228 million for Pennsylvania's freight-rail system and $284 million for a newly created multi-modal fund in the first four years of the newly adopted program, which takes effect Oct. 1.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_rail/news/Pennsylvania-adopts-plan-to-invest-billions-in-transportation-improvements-over-next-12-years--41513

 

Wow. Can you imagine what we could do with a fund like that?

 

... ah, and we're about to overwhelmingly reelect who as governor?  You know, the guy who has a penchant for fighting and killing transit/passenger rail projects.

Brilliant!

 

The Atlanta Transit Agency's Big Plan to Convert Parking Lots into Housing

MARTA sees real estate as a gateway to better train and bus service.

ERIC JAFFE @e_jaffe Jul 21, 2014 14 Comments

 

MARTA, the transit authority for metro Atlanta, is quietly becoming a player in the real estate world, and it has its excess parking to thank. In the past few months, the agency has pushed forward with plans to develop under-used parking lots at three stations—King Memorial, Avondale, and Edgewood/Candler Park—into mixed-use commercial and residential buildings. And MARTA expects to secure at least two more such deals by early next year.

 

Talk about a shift from cars to transit.

 

The moves are part of a broader push by MARTA to capitalize on the transit-oriented development occurring in and around the city. Rather than sit on the sidelines during the resurgence, the agency decided to join the action. MARTA officials expect the new TOD program to pay off twice over: first, by pumping revenue from the projects back into the system's trains and buses, and second, by enticing residents who move into the buildings onto the trains.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2014/07/the-atlanta-transit-agencys-big-plan-to-convert-parking-lots-into-housing/374735/

 

It would really be nice if RTA was so TOD proactive, esp with the acres of free parking lots our transit agency maintains.

http://www.fta.dot.gov/newsroom/news_releases/12286_16007.html

 

DOT 90-14

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Contact: Amy Bernstein

Tel: 202-366-0706

 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Foxx Announces $100 Million in Grants

to Connect More Americans with Jobs, Ladders of Opportunity

 

Detroit to Receive Over $25 Million to Improve Access to Transit for Residents in Greatest Need 

 

DETROIT – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced today $100 million in competitive grants to 24 recipients in 19 states to significantly improve bus service and bus facilities in urban and rural communities where residents depend heavily on public transportation. The grants are provided through the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Ladders of Opportunity Initiative, which supports the modernization and expansion of transit bus service across the nation, with the purpose of connecting disadvantaged and low-income populations—including veterans, seniors, and youths—with centers of education, employment, job training, health care, and other vital services. A list of all funded projects is available at http://www.fta.dot.gov/grants/15926_16153.html.

 

“Transportation is about more than getting from one point to another--it’s about getting from where you are to a better life,” said Secretary Foxx. “The Ladders of Opportunity grants will help communities to offer better access to jobs and schools and allow citizens to gain the life skills they need to achieve their goals.”

 

Secretary Foxx made today’s announcement at Cass Technical High School in Detroit. He was joined by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan and state and local officials. Secretary Foxx was one of several Cabinet secretaries who met in Detroit in September 2013 to discuss what they could do to support Detroit revitalization efforts. Since the Secretary’s visit, the U.S. Department of Transportation has provided approximately $24 million to repair and rehabilitate buses and install security cameras to protect passengers and drivers, more than $37 million in TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants to the M1 RAIL/Woodward Avenue Streetcar project and $6.4 million to assist the newly created Regional Transit Authority implement a regional bus rapid transit system. 

 

“More Americans travel by bus than any other form of transit—and nearly half of the buses that people depend on in the United States are in marginal or poor condition,” said FTA Acting Administrator McMillan. “These grants will give a much-needed boost to communities around the country whose residents need and deserve safe, reliable bus service to access jobs and other important opportunities to provide for their families and achieve a better quality of life.”

 

FTA’s Ladders of Opportunity Initiative proved to be one of the most over-subscribed discretionary grant programs in the agency’s history. FTA received 446 project proposals from 282 applicants requesting a total of approximately $1.4 billion—14 times the available funding. This highly competitive response reflects tremendous demand for modern buses and bus facilities in communities across the United States. Priority was given to projects that provide ready access to work for individuals lacking reliable transportation, especially in low-income and under-served neighborhoods; projects connecting to universities, hospitals or other places that can lead to improved quality of life; and projects based on effective partnerships with local governments, businesses, and non-profits.

 

The President’s GROW AMERICA Act reauthorization proposal would increase funding for transit buses and bus facilities by over 350 percent between FY2014 and FY2015, to help address additional unmet transportation needs across the country, including provisions for discretionary grants.

 

Among the projects selected nationwide:

 

• Detroit will receive $25.9 million to purchase up to 50 new hybrid and clean diesel buses that will ease overcrowding, reduce wait times, and provide more accessible and reliable service for a highly transit-dependent population where 60 percent of residents do not have access to a car, and 35 percent live below the poverty line. The new buses will provide riders with essential links to jobs, education, training and other opportunities throughout Detroit, including vital connections to the Central Business District. The clean-fuel buses will replace aging vehicles that have been plagued by maintenance issues, resulting in better on-time service, as well as reduced carbon emissions.

• San Francisco will receive approximately $9 million to help the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to expand its Muni bus service by adding up to 12 motor coaches to targeted lines across San Francisco. Improved bus service will help ease overcrowding and facilitate transit access in some of the city’s highest need areas.

• Denver will receive $5 million to link Denver’s bus system with nearby Aurora, Colorado, connecting residents of an economically diverse corridor with a variety of education and employment opportunities. This project incorporates Denver’s Workforce Initiative Now! program to deliver training, education, and job services.

• Oklahoma will receive almost $4.1 million to replace aging vehicles in 10 transit systems across rural parts of the state, expanding economic opportunities in a region where 78 percent of rural workers face commute times of an hour or more.

• Two grants totaling $260,570 will establish new transit systems on Native American reservations. These projects will afford much-needed transportation options to tribal residents who often lack access to employment, health care, and other essentials. Recipients are the Sac and Fox Nation, which borders Kansas and Nebraska, and the Muckleshoot Reservation in Washington State, near Seattle, Wash.

 

# # #

Other transit agencies will be similarly hurt by this anti-transit governmental action....

 

11/4/2014

Rail News: Passenger Rail

Anti-transit tax policy to impact ridership, FY2016 budget, WMATA says

 

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) officials anticipate no increase in subway ridership in fiscal-year 2016, which would require District of Columbia-area governments to help provide more funding to maintain the area's transit service, WMATA officials announced in a budget outlook yesterday.

 

The agency's Finance Committee will begin discussions this week to develop a balanced FY2016 budget, which is not expected to include a fare increase. In addition, the budget is being prepared "in an environment where anti-transit tax policy" has made it more affordable for commuters to drive to work rather than use transit options, WMATA officials said in a press release.

 

Despite an upward trend in bus ridership and higher rail ridership on a year-over-year basis with the addition of the Silver Line, changes in federal tax law that provide greater financial incentives to park than to use public transportation are one reason that WMATA officials expect rail ridership will be flat in the next fiscal year.

 

On Jan. 1, a federal transit subsidy was reduced from $240 to $130, which affected private-sector workers as well as federal workers who use SmartBenefits and pre-tax commuter savings programs through their employers, WMATA officials said. The subsidy level will continue through 2015 unless Congress acts during the lame duck session after today's election. Other ridership drivers include regional employment data that forecast a continuation of the recent decline in federal government-related employment.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_rail/news/Antitransit-tax-policy-to-impact-ridership-FY2016-budget-WMATA-says--42500

Driving at lowest level in 20 yrs yet 310K lane-miles added since. Transit use most in 60 yrs & Congress wants transit dead....

 

http://blogs.rollcall.com/the-container/thinking-the-unthinkable-about-mass-transit-funding/?dcz

Elect ignorant governors? You get ignorant policies...

 

Gov.'s budget proposes $169M cut in Chicago transit funding

Posted on March 20, 2015

 

The Chicago Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) projected that the cuts described in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed State of Illinois fiscal year 2016 (FY 2016) budget would level a blow to the operating budgets of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace.

 

It is estimated that the proposed cuts would total $169.5 million region wide — meaning the service boards would receive $169.5 million less in their operating budgets than expected in the FY 2016, which begins on July 1, 2015 and ends on June 30, 2016.

 

The proposed cuts in the Gov. Rauner’s budget represent anticipated losses in funding from three main state sources:

 

MORE:

http://www.metro-magazine.com/government-issues/news/293713/gov-s-budget-proposes-169m-cut-in-chicago-transit-funding?ref=Express-Friday-NEW-20150320&utm_campaign=Express-Friday-NEW-20150320&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Enewsletter

Congress Expected to Level Tax Benefit for Transit and Car Commuters

http://usa.streetsblog.org/2015/12/16/congress-has-finally-leveled-the-tax-benefit-for-transit-and-car-commuters/

Oregon Considering Payroll Tax for Transit https://t.co/THFQ1dYhx6

CORY DOCTOROW / 12:14 AM FRI MAR 25, 2016

STUCK: Public transit's moment arrives just as public spending disappears

 

More Americans are riding public transit than ever before, and not a moment too soon, because between oil's direct and indirect costs, climate change, the expense of roadworks, and the scaling problems of private cars, the increasingly urbanized nation needs something to keep its cities from imploding under the logistical challenge of getting everyone everywhere.

 

Not to mention that the property-speculation bubble has driven not just toilet-cleaners and daycare workers out of the cities' core, but everyone who is not, in some technical sense, an actual financial institution. If your daily commute is the single biggest predictor of your happiness, then we're teeing a lot of people up for some serious grief.

 

The same forces of financialization that have converted a basic human need -- shelter -- into an asset class that governments are incentivized to make more expensive have also rejected taxation as a form of coercive violence that violates the alleged human right to private property.

 

MORE:

https://boingboing.net/2016/03/25/stuck-public-transits-momen.html?platform=hootsuite

Elect ignorant governors? You get ignorant policies...

 

Gov.'s budget proposes $169M cut in Chicago transit funding

Posted on March 20, 2015

 

The Chicago Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) projected that the cuts described in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed State of Illinois fiscal year 2016 (FY 2016) budget would level a blow to the operating budgets of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra and Pace.

 

It is estimated that the proposed cuts would total $169.5 million region wide — meaning the service boards would receive $169.5 million less in their operating budgets than expected in the FY 2016, which begins on July 1, 2015 and ends on June 30, 2016.

 

The proposed cuts in the Gov. Rauner’s budget represent anticipated losses in funding from three main state sources:

 

MORE:

http://www.metro-magazine.com/government-issues/news/293713/gov-s-budget-proposes-169m-cut-in-chicago-transit-funding?ref=Express-Friday-NEW-20150320&utm_campaign=Express-Friday-NEW-20150320&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Enewsletter

 

Another Republican (governor in this case) slashing transit funds... Ho-hum, so what else is new?  ...  Fact is people who care about mass transit and cities are foolish to either vote for Republicans (especially at the state level) or stay home (which is indirectly doing the same thing).

Developers are making billions off of Metro. How that could help save the system.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/digger/wp/2016/11/04/developers-are-making-billions-off-of-metro-how-that-could-help-save-the-system/?tid=sm_tw

I discovered this while surfing elsewhere. It is from July. I already see GOP parrots sniping about this online.

Incoming Administration to eliminate all public transit funding

 

http://www.enr.com/articles/39893-gop-platform-calls-for-phasing-out-federal-mass-transit-funding

and

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2016/07/20/the-irony-of-the-gops-new-promise-to-cut-mass-transit-funding-donald-trump-loves-trains/

I discovered this while surfing elsewhere. It is from July. I already see GOP parrots sniping about this online.

Incoming Administration to eliminate all public transit funding

 

http://www.enr.com/articles/39893-gop-platform-calls-for-phasing-out-federal-mass-transit-funding

and

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2016/07/20/the-irony-of-the-gops-new-promise-to-cut-mass-transit-funding-donald-trump-loves-trains/

 

This is another one of these weird clashes which underscore that Trump, in large part, has no real hard 'n fast political ideology-- grew up and New York so it's not surprising he likes trains and mass transit so, you'd think, the GOP's desire to ax all transit funding would be DOA -- not to mention the paradox, as noted in another thread, that conservatives in a number of Sunbelt and western urban areas are building, and enjoying mass transit... BUT Trump has proven to be totally obsequious; he'll climb into any conservative or right wing bed of individuals or groups who would help him gain the White House (wacko conspiracy theorists like InfoWars, anti-science climate deniers, white supremacists ... you name it).  Now that he's achieved the presidency, the question is: will he, and to what extent, will pay up on these IOU's?

 

If somehow Trump leaves office prior to 2020 -- for whatever reasons -- you'd suspect the more ideologically-driven, rural Indiana, hard-right Pence would be the president more likely to agree with, and indeed lead an effort to kill of federal mass transit funding.

Detroit-area's regional transit tax proposal fails.  What went wrong? Advocates seek answers

 

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/11/09/rta-millage-failure/93553464/

This is true of all cities because those that don't improve their Transit will lose out to the cities that do...

 

Millennials Are Demanding Better Transit, and We Should Give it to Them

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/opinion/millennials-demanding-better-transit-give/

It seems Michael Ford, and the other SE Michigan RTA officials, are somewhat optimistic and will be heading back to the drawing board for a future ballot attempt.  As the article notes, the vote was really pretty close and that it was, as usual, Macomb County, home of those working-class angry Reagan Democrats who tipped the scales against the RTA tax and that, had this not been a polarizing  presidential election year with all the fired-up angry white, pro-Trump Macomb voters coming out to the polls, RTA very well may have pulled it out.  The message: get RTA on the next off-year election ballot.

 

As totally dysfunctional as Detroit mass transit always seems, they actually are farther along the Greater Cleveland in the sense that they are already addressing the multi-county funding/service hurdle that seems impossible here.  Obviously Cleveland and its inner ring suburbs currently has far superior mass transit service than Detroit due to our century-old head start in building, expanding and maintaining rapid transit service.  But with Cleveland's deteriorating/disappearing RTA service and current state and local indifference to transit funding and future planning, coupled with Detroit's new Q-1 streetcar coming in along with the region's continued push for regional transit funding and planning (added to greater Detroit's already superior (and popular) Amtrak connection with Pontiac, Ann Arbor and Chicago), I could see Detroit actually moving past Cleveland transit wise, even within the next decade.     

The CARES Act stimulus has significant funding to get transit through the pandemic crisis:

 

Amtrak - $1 billion
$492 million - Northeast Corridor/state-supported services grants
$526 million - National Network grants

Amtrak is required to recognize unions, provide worker benefits and unemployment assistance.

 

Transit - $20 billion
$16 billion - urbanized area formula grants
$4 billion - rural area formula grants.

The "formula" is based on a combination of bus revenue vehicle miles, bus passenger miles, fixed guideway (rail, BRT, etc) revenue vehicle miles & fixed guideway route miles as well as population and population density.

 

^ Looks like Dayton and Youngstown do not qualify for funding.