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DOT Head Sympathizes With Transit Cuts…But Says Meager Budgets Will Continue
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Transportation For America’s United States of Transportation Cutbacks
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This map—courtesy of our friends over at Transportation For America—show how widespread the negative effects of the recession has been. Click on a pin to see transit agency details, and what cuts are being considered (yellow pins designate a Stranded at the Station case study).
In a speech given earlier this week to the heads of transit agencies from across the country, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood expressed support for growing transit systems in American cities, but warned that a “lousy economy” would hinder efforts to increase levels of federal investment.
The speech, given as part of the annual conference held by the American Public Transportation Association in Washington, D.C., included a question and answer session, where transit heads expressed frustration at the lack of a permanent, transit-friendly successor to the federal surface transportation policy which expired last fall (Congress has been passing a series of short-term extensions in the meantime). Passengers across the country have been hurt as transit agencies faced with widening budgetary shortfalls—due to decreased commuter traffic resulting from high levels of unemployment, and decreased tax revenue in general—are forced to choose between cuts in service and fare hikes. (New Jersey Transit, New York City’s MTA, and Washington D.C.‘s WMATA have all recently been faced with these decisions)
More after the jump…
DC.Streetsblog reports that while LaHood was explicitly empathetic with officials who lamented about having to make untenable decisions, the Secretary issued a “friendly-warning” to not expect too much of the White House. In response to a question by one APTA member from Michigan about how many transit agencies have had to make cuts during the past year—most of the audience raised their hand—Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff asked how many agencies would have had to make more cuts were it not for Recovery Act funds—and most of the audience raised their hands again.
“Part of the solution,” added LaHood, “will be when the economy comes back” and the Obama Administration is more open to raising taxes to fund expanded investment.
There was good news for transit agencies, though, when LaHood responded positively to a proposal to allow federal funds to be used for operating costs, agreeing that a good number would be somewhere around 10% of total grants awarded to a given transit district.
“The big sticking point of all of this is money,” LaHood added, when speaking about the possibility for the passage of a new federal bill that would dramatically change the scale of investment in transit systems. “That money just doesn’t exist right now.”
—Sean Jeans-Gail