All posts from the month of December 2009
Today’s Headlines – 12/14/09
December 14, 2009By Transportation for America
House Transportation Committee Chair James Oberstar repeated his call for a transportation reform bill in 2010. (Roll Call)
The Senate cleared a $446.8 billion spending bill that will keep the government running and America’s transportation system moving. (NYT)
President Obama is pushing governors to hire more women and minorities for stimulus projects. (McClatchy)
T4 America’s Dangerous by Design report was cited by the Mobile Press-Register in a report on the metro area’s pedestrian safety. (Press-Register)
An unexpected $400 million shortfall could result in longer waits, more crowds and an elimination of student discounts on New York City’s subway and bus system. (City Room)
And, Florida has moved into the “rail era” with the Legislature’s passage of commuter rail funding, the Sun-Sentinel editorialized. (Sun-Sentinel)
Pew: “Self-sustaining” highways are increasingly subsidized
December 11, 2009By Sean Barry
Critics of public transportation often cling to the canard that government should not subsidize a transportation option that cannot pay for itself. These naysayers reference “self-sustaining” roads and highways, which receive funding from user-fees – in this case, the federal gas tax.
A new study conducted by SubsidyScope, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, reveals that not only are roads and highways not self-sustaining, but the amount covered by gas taxes has been declining — leaving an increasing amount of their massive cost to be subsidized. Pew projections – using Federal Highway Administration numbers – show user fees contributing a slim majority of the revenue to the Highway Trust Fund, with the difference made up through bonds and General Fund dollars. Public transportation does, as the critics assert, operate “at a loss,” but so do roadways (see chart below, courtesy of Subsidyscope).
The researchers wrote: “In 2007, 51 percent of the nation’s $193 billion set aside for highway construction and maintenance was generated through user fees — down from 10 years earlier when user fees made up 61 percent of total spending on roads. The rest came from other sources, including revenue generated by income, sales and property taxes, as well as bond issues.” Forty-years ago, they noted, user-fees generated 71 percent of highway revenues.
Of the 18.4 cent federal gasoline tax, 2.86 cents – about 15 percent – is directed toward mass transit projects, and an additional 0.1 cent toward environmental clean-up, according to the report. That leaves more than 80 percent strictly for highways. Even if we spent 100 percent of gas tax revenues on highways, only 65 percent of their total cost would be covered. There would still be a need for significant outside revenue – in other words, subsidies. Does that mean highways are “government waste?” Or are transportation dollars an investment to provide access to jobs and movement of goods?
One reason for the decline of the user-fee’s contribution is that the gas tax has not kept pace with inflation. Today, there is limited political appetite for a gas tax increase. Americans are also driving cleaner cars than they used to, due in large part of federal action on fuel economy. Less gas purchased means lower gas tax revenues.
So, to the critics who seem to be against all subsidies — unless they’re going to cover highway projects: let’s drop the claim that highways “pay for themselves” and have a debate rooted in fact rather than myth.
Today’s Headlines – 12/11/09
December 11, 2009By Transportation for America
The House passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill that included $2.5 billion for high-speed rail, among other provisions, with no Republican support. (NYT)
Florida could be a prime recipient of these high-speed rail funds after passage of its own rail funding bill. (Miami Herald)
Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, whose constituents include many Metro riders, is calling for new management in the DC-area transit system. (WP)
A Star-Ledger editorial points out that Gov.- Chris Christie supports new transportation bonds despite calling such borrowing “unconscionable” during the campaign. (Star-Ledger)
And, a Central Coast elementary school in California is capitalizing on its high pedestrian safety rating by encouraging more kids to walk. (Times Press Recorder)
Secretary LaHood takes on Senator Coburn’s “stimulus waste”
December 10, 2009By Sean Barry
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood didn’t pull any punches in a blog post yesterday about one senator’s “stimulus waste” list.
Senator Tom Coburn is a persistent critic of transportation “enhancements” and the author of a failed amendment earlier this year to strip bicycle and pedestrian projects from a spending bill. His latest waste list includes two bike paths. Coburn told the Washington Times, “When we run $1.4 trillion deficits, the money we spend ought to be a high priority for the American people as a whole.” To which LaHood retorts: “What he really means is that, because he doesn’t get bikes, no one else does either.”
LaHood goes on to cite an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project extending a bike trail between downtown Minneapolis and the new Minnesota Twins stadium.
“I guess a better connection to Minneapolis’s central business district doesn’t count as infrastructure to some folks,” the secretary wrote. In fact, projects aimed at improving biking, walking and livability are central to both economic recovery, livability and future prosperity.
“We don’t call that waste,” LaHood concluded. “We call it progress.”
Walkscore innovators turn to improving public transportation
December 10, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
Front Seat, the civic software company responsible for the massively popular Walkscore service, launched a new project today aimed at encouraging public transportation ridership. The project makes transit agency schedule data available, accessible, and open to developers so they can create applications to make it easier to ride. CityGoRound.org is a new portal where you can find the many applications developers have created to ease and increase the convenience of riding transit. Their mission, outlined on a newly launched site today, is very simple:
Our mission is to help make public transit more convenient. For example, an app that lets you know when your bus will arrive is way better than standing outside waiting for 20 minutes. If we can make public transit more convenient, more people will ride public transit. More people riding public transit equals less driving. Less driving equals a healthier planet.
To accomplish that, they’re doing three things: cataloging the hundreds of smartphone/web applications people have created to make riding public transit easier, putting pressure on agencies across the country that have not released their public data, and raising awareness of the need for government agencies to open up their data.
By typing in your zip code at CityGoRound.org, you may find, for example, apps that have taken publicly available transit agency schedule data and turned it into a slick iPhone or web app you can check on the go to find out when that next bus is coming, or when the next train will be headed your direction. One major barrier to riding transit is the learning curve that comes with unfamiliar schedules or service. If you’ve never ridden the bus home from work, are you going to wait in the snow at 8 p.m. for your first try, hoping you understood the posted timetable correctly?
The openness of government data might sound like something that only techies need to worry about, but more openness in government both increases accountability to the people and makes services more available and convenient for the public. Just this week, President Obama announced a new comprehensive open government plan, establishing parameters for all federal agencies to open up their operations — and their taxpayer-funded data — to the public.
“We are calling on transit agencies nationwide to open their data and follow the lead of the Open Government Directive issued this week by the White House,” said Mike Mathieu, Founder and Chairman of Front Seat. “City-Go-Round’s transit apps are a concrete example of how open data can improve citizens’ lives on a daily basis.”
Go check out the site today. If your city’s agency doesn’t provide open data for public transportation, they have a petition there you can sign to find out how to get involved in making that happen.
Front Seat created the service with the Transit Developers Group, generously supported with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Today’s Headlines – 12/10/09
December 10, 2009By Transportation for America
Passage of a jobs bill before the winter break is doubtful, according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. (Politico)
Other sources, however, say the House could act as soon as next week. (Hill)
House and Senate conferees agreed on $2.5 billion in high-speed rail funds in an omnibus spending bill. (Streetsblog)
New Jersey Gov.-elect Chris Christie will borrow $1 billion to pay for highway and transit projects. (Star-Ledger)
Older Americans in rural areas are increasingly isolated, due in part to an absence of transportation options. (NYT)
The tragic death of three Texas girls reveal a failure of highway planning, the Dallas Morning News editorialized. (Morning News)
And, Michigan’s diesel fuel tax could rise by 4 cents a gallon under a State Senate proposal. (Chicago Tribune)
Transportation for America Praises Boost in High-Speed Rail Funding
December 9, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
John Robert Smith, co-chair of the Transportation for America campaign and former Amtrak Board Chairman, released the following statement in response to Congress’ allocation of $2.5 billion for high-speed rail:
“We are pleased that the Consolidated Appropriations Committee bill for fiscal year 2010 includes $2.5 billion for high-speed rail. This is an important step forward and will build off the $8 billion previously allocated to high-speed rail in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. High-speed rail is a key priority of the Transportation for America campaign and our vision of expanded transit choices, intercity connectedness and less reliance on foreign oil.”
“This $2.5 billion would not be possible without the efforts of Congressman John Olver, a friend of public transportation throughout his 18 years in Congress. We applaud Congressman Olver’s efforts and look forward to our continued partnership.”
Today’s Headlines – 12/9/09
December 9, 2009By Transportation for America
Voters in Oklahoma City yesterday approved a sales tax extension to fund new streetcars, rail improvements and other projects, with Mayor Mick Cornett declaring that the “golden age continues.” (NewsOK)
President Obama may have sounded a slightly different tune on infrastructure spending during his speech yesterday compared to remarks at last week’s jobs summit. (WP)
In yesterday’s address, the president expressed support for $50 billion in “merit-based infrastructure investment,” a promising sign. (Streetsblog)
Of the 380,000 public comments the EPA has received over its finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health, 70 percent were supportive. (WSJ)
Florida Governor Charlie Crist is expected to sign a new high-speed rail bill into law after bipartisan State Senate approval last night. (Miami Herald)
And, Los Angeles transit officials are increasing their promotional efforts. (Yglesias)
President Obama’s jobs speech and plan for infrastructure spending
December 8, 2009By Stephen Lee Davis
President Obama delivered a speech just a few minutes ago at the Brookings Institution here in Washington, D.C., on his plan for creating jobs and putting America back to work. We’ll add some details later and a link to the full speech, but here is the excerpt on infrastructure spending:
Second, we’re proposing a boost in investment in the nation’s infrastructure beyond what was included in the Recovery Act, to continue modernizing our transportation and communications networks. These are needed public works that engage private sector companies, spurring hiring across the country. Already, more than 10,000 of these projects have been funded through the Recovery Act. And by design, Recovery Act work on roads, bridges, water systems, Superfund sites, broadband networks, and clean energy projects will all be ramping up in the months ahead. It was planned this way for two reasons: so the impact would be felt over a two year period; and, more importantly, because we wanted to do this right. The potential for abuse in a program of this magnitude, while operating at such a fast pace, was enormous. So I asked Vice President Biden and others to make sure – to the extent humanly possible – that the investments were sound, the projects worthy, and the execution efficient. What this means is that we’re going to see even more work – and workers – on Recovery projects in the next six months than we saw in the last six months.
Even so, there are many more worthy projects than there were dollars to fund them. I recognize that by their nature these projects often take time, and will therefore create jobs over time. But the need for jobs will also last beyond next year and the benefits of these investments will last years beyond that. So adding to this initiative to rebuild America’s infrastructure is the right thing to do.
The White House Press Secretary also circulated a document ahead of the speech with details on President Obama’s plan. It outlined three key areas for stimulating job growth; small business, infrastructure, and clean energy and efficiency. Here’s the second point in full detail:
Investing in America’s Roads, Bridges and Infrastructure
Additional investment in highways, transit, rail, aviation and water. The President is calling for new investments in a wide range of infrastructure, designed to get out the door as quickly as possible while continuing a sustained effort at creating jobs and improving America’s productivity.
Support for merit-based infrastructure investment that leverages federal dollars. The Administration supports financing infrastructure investments in new ways, allowing projects to be selected on merit and leveraging money with a combination of grants and loans as was done through the Recovery Act’s TIGER program.
Today’s Headlines – 12/8/09
December 8, 2009By Transportation for America
Conservative columnist David Brooks wrote of “widespread agreement” on the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank. (NYT)
Joe Klein also gives a thumbs-up to the infrastructure bank proposal, arguing it would help establish performance metrics for appropriations. (TIME)
White House officials argue strict budget rules could prevent Wall Street bailout funds from being used for job-creation. (WSJ)
Revenue-sharing between state and local governments may be needed to ensure municipalities get the relief they need. (TNR)
In Jackson, Michigan’s experience, some “shovel-ready” projects proposed for stimulus funds were more ready than others. (Citizen-Patriot)
And, legislation creating a commuter high-speed rail system in central Florida cleared the State House yesterday. (AP)
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- Oppose House bill that slashes public transit funding, falls short on repair and axes bike & pedestrian safety
February 7, 2012 - T4 coalition announces opposition to House energy and transportation bill
February 6, 2012 - 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
- Oppose House bill that slashes public transit funding, falls short on repair and axes bike & pedestrian safety
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