Which highly anticipated transportation projects in your community would go back on the shelf next year? Will it be a bridge replacement years in the making? New buses to meet growing ridership? A multi-use trail along a key highway that bike commuters are hoping to use? Improvements to make your Main Street safer and more pleasant for people who shop and work there?
If Congress does nothing in the next few months, the nation’s transportation fund will be bankrupt before the end of the summer. The new report we published this morning chronicles the heavy financial toll that states and metro areas will face if federal transportation dollars for any new projects drop to zero starting this fall.
The bottom line if that happens? The feds will be unable to commit to funding any new projects, depriving states and localities of resources critical to maintaining and improving the infrastructure that makes our economy possible. That’s unacceptable. Will you join us and call on your representatives and senators?
Poof.
There goes a long awaited bridge replacement in downtown Boise, ID, to replace a narrow, deficient 1938 bridge with a modern structure that is safe for all modes of transportation; the order of 29 new buses for Columbus, Ohio’s transit agency; and the replacement for the nearly 80-year-old twin I-74 spans in the Quad Cities on the border between Iowa and Illinois — where one in five workers crosses the river each day for work.
The list goes on and includes hundreds if not thousands of new projects for next year that would be delayed without a fix for our country’s transportation fund.
Barring congressional action, the nation’s transportation fund will be insolvent later this year and the federal government will be unable to commit to funding any new transportation projects next year. This would have significant impacts on projects that have been planned years in advance across the country.
As the report we released this morning makes abundantly clear, starting this fall, every dollar of gas tax revenues collected will be needed to cover the federal share of projects already promised to states, regions, and transit agencies. That means no new projects with a significant federal share will be able to get underway in the new fiscal year, which begins this October.
What does that really mean for projects around the country? We asked around to a few of the many elected officials and business/civic leaders we’ve been talking to over the last couple of years and found a few specific examples of the types of projects that would stop in their tracks in FY2015 if Congress does nothing to rescue the nation’s transportation fund.
On game days at Boise State University right on the south side of the Boise River from downtown, thousands of people crowd the narrow 4-foot sidewalks to cross the critical choke point for traffic in the area on their way to and from the famous blue turf. Given its degraded and deficient condition, the bridge could require weight restrictions or closure at any time — one of the perils of continuing to operate a deficient bridge that’s past its recommended lifespan.
The Broadway Bridge replacement, scheduled for 2015, is one of just a few new construction projects in a state transportation plan dedicated almost entirely to maintaining existing roads.
The Idaho Transportation Department is partnering with the city of Boise on the design to ensure the new bridge serves the needs of city residents and will enhance the neighborhood — as well as the needs for regional connectivity on an important artery through the city. Sidewalks will be expanded to 10 feet and bicycle lanes will be added on the bridge and adjoining sections of Broadway Avenue and there will be new connections to the Greenbelt, a regional recreational trail that passes under the bridge.
Because the insolvency of the trust fund would mean that no new transportation projects with a federal share could break ground in FY2015, the much-needed Broadway Bridge project would come to a halt.
Columbus, Ohio: Waiting on the bus
Passengers pack an existing COTA bus line in Columbus, Ohio.
Columbus, Ohio, home to a major university and Ohio’s state government, is a growing region with a projected 22 percent growth in transit ridership this decade.
To accommodate the growing demand, the Central Ohio Transit Authority has been planning to add 29 new buses to its fleet in 2015, replacing some of its dilapidated buses and adding 12 buses to the peak-time fleet. New buses are critical to get residents across the region to work.
Residents in the region support their community’s transit service through a voter-approved local sales tax and the agency is using primarily local funds to rehab a garage to service the new buses. But the agency is counting on the expected federal matching funds to purchase the new buses that they need to meet their needs. In addition to adding service on existing routes, COTA is planning the region’s first bus rapid transit corridor on Cleveland Avenue.
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Those are just two of the many stories we’ve heard of important projects that would come to a stop if Congress fails to rescue the nation’s transportation fund.
But they need to do more than just save the transportation fund. The local leaders we’ve been speaking with have made it clear that if Congress wants support for raising more revenue for transportation, they need to give these folks at the local level more reasons to believe that it will be to their benefit.
Last week we released a policy road map showing how we can resuscitate and reinvigorate the program in exciting ways, so that it better suits the needs of people in the communities where they live. That’s a great place to start.
Unless Congress adds new revenue to the nation’s transportation trust fund, the federal government will be unable to commit to funding any new transportation projects, depriving states and localities of resources critical to maintaining and improving the infrastructure that makes our economy possible.
The idea of getting any new projects underway in FY 2015 (like this ongoing project in Washington State) could be history without a fix for the trust fund.
America is at a crucial decision point for transportation. The nation’s transportation trust fund is facing a crisis. The gasoline tax that has sustained the federal transportation program since the middle of the last century is no longer keeping up with investment needs.
Transportation for America has released a new report that shows the tangible financial impact that the trust fund’s expected insolvency would have on state and local transportation budgets beginning in the upcoming fiscal year.
But there is a ray of light: The crisis presents an opportunity, because it comes at the same time as Congress must update the federal transportation program, MAP-21. Last week we released a policy road map showing how we can resuscitate and reinvigorate the program in exciting ways, so that it better suits the needs of people in the communities where they live. Absent such action, though, the bottom line is a bleak one: Starting this fall, every dollar of gas tax revenue collected will be needed to cover the federal share of projects already promised to states, regions, and transit agencies, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
That means new transportation projects with a federal share will be shelved — perhaps indefinitely — starting as soon as this summer.
While every state raises their own transportation funds through some taxing mechanism and local governments contribute their own funds, federal funds account for the lion’s share of many major projects in the country, from a key bridge replacement or highway rehab to new rail cars and buses. Federal dollars account for half or more of the transportation capital budget in all but 15 states, and for many the share is two-thirds or more. (It’s more than 90 percent in Alaska and Rhode Island, for example.) Metro regions like Miami, Seattle, Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia, Minneapolis-St. Paul – to name just a few – could be out $100 million or more.
We’ll be featuring some of the key projects that could be shelved and states that are scaling back their transportation plans throughout the course of today and tomorrow. There are surely hundreds if not thousands of affected projects all across the country.
Congress has an opportunity to save the transportation program and recommit to investing in the repairs and improvements our communities and businesses need
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Most states and dozens of metropolitan areas will lose the majority of the money they need to maintain and improve their transportation networks when the Highway Trust Fund goes broke this summer, according to a report released today by Transportation for America.
The report, The End of the Road? The Looming Fiscal Disaster for Transportation, shows the dollar amounts that each state and metro will be forced to forego if Congress does not act to avert the insolvency of the transportation fund, expected to be exhausted in July. The shortfall is a result of lower than expected collections of revenue from a gas tax that has not changed since 1993, despite rapidly rising construction costs.
Unless Congress adds new revenue to the trust fund, the federal government will be unable to commit to funding any new transportation projects, depriving states and localities of resources critical to maintaining and improving the infrastructure that makes our economy possible.
“America is at a crucial decision point for transportation,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “But there is a ray of light: The crisis presents an opportunity, because it comes at the same time as Congress must update the federal transportation program, MAP-21. We believe we have a chance to resuscitate and reinvigorate the program in exciting ways, so that it better suits the needs of people in the communities where they live.”
Absent such action, though, the bottom line is a bleak one: Starting this fall, every dollar of gas tax revenue collected will be needed to cover the federal share of projects already promised to states, regions, and transit agencies, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
While nearly each state raises their own funds through some sort of taxing mechanism and local governments contribute their own funds, federal funds account for the lion’s share of almost any major project in the country, from a key bridge replacement or highway rehab to new rail cars and buses. Federal dollars account for half or more of the capital transportation budget in all but 15 states, and for many the share is two-thirds or more. (It’s more than 90 percent in Alaska and Rhode Island, for example.)
Regions like Miami, Seattle, Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia, Minneapolis-St. Paul — to name just a few — could be out $100 million or more.
Suspension of federal funding will affect communities of all sizes. It would shelve plans for a long awaited bridge replacement in downtown Boise, ID, to replace a narrow, deficient 1938 bridge with a modern structure that is safe for all modes of transportation; the order of 29 new buses for Columbus, Ohio’s transit agency; and the project to replace the nearly 80-year-old twin I-74 spans in the Quad Cities on the border between Iowa and Illinois — where one in five workers crosses the river each day for work.
“Over the last nine months we have met with local leaders in regions all over the country, and they all tell us the same thing: They believe their constituents would be willing to pay more for transportation, if they know those dollars will come back to benefit their communities,” Corless said.
The suggestions and desires of those local leaders have been compiled in a platform for updating the transportation program, available online at https://t4america.org/policies.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – James Corless, director of Transportation for America, issued this statement in response to the release today of the Obama Administration’s proposal for reauthorizing the transportation program, MAP-21, which expires September 30:
“MAP-21 marked the beginning of a much-needed process to reform and improve our transportation system, but it was only a first step. The Administration’s proposal advances the discussion by offering additional reforms that serve as a good starting point for debate in Congress.
One key, needed reform is a turn away from the siloed programs that drive communities to choose one mode or another, and toward a system of multimodal funding that allows local communities to develop the best solution to the transportation challenges they face. The proposal also builds on efforts to develop merit-based grants and offer incentives for innovation, an important role for the federal program to play.
We are disappointed the Administration did not include a specific proposal to fix our nation’s transportation deficit, either in the short or long-term.
The Administration has chosen a critical moment to release its first detailed proposal for the renewal of our beleaguered transportation program. As our forthcoming report, The End of the Road? The Looming Fiscal Disaster for Transportation, makes clear, communities around the country are bracing for a serious blow this fall when the Highway Trust Fund is exhausted and their expected funding evaporates. At the same time, the approaching expiration of MAP-21 offers an opportunity to reinvigorate the program and provide communities the resources their economies need.
We commend the Administration on providing a detailed set of policy proposals.
We look forward to similar detail on a stable, ongoing funding source, both from the Administration and leaders in Congress.”
The Highway Trust Fund—which provides most of the funding for highway projects in the United States—is slated to run bankrupt later this year. If that happens, the program won’t be able to pay for any new projects next year and many federal transportation projects will come to a grinding halt.
What will that mean for state and metro regions? On Wednesday, Transportation for America will release a new, original report looking at what will happen to communities across the country if the trust fund goes bankrupt.
The End of the Road? The Looming Fiscal Disaster for Transportation discusses how we got into this problem, what the impact will be, and what we can do to get out of it.
Join us on Wednesday at 3:30 PM EDT for a webinar kicking off the new research. Hear the results of this research from Transportation for America’s experts and learn about tools to help your community advocate for change.
A funding crisis can be averted, but only if Congress acts to increase funding for transportation aimed at repairing and preserving our aging infrastructure and supporting locally driven projects that spur economic growth. Join us on Wednesday to learn more.
Building from conversations with business, civic and elected leaders in communities throughout the country, Transportation for America has developed a platform of seven broad policies to reboot the nation’s federal transportation program and put it, and the nation, on a sound footing.
The nation’s trust fund for transportation is teetering on the brink of insolvency, potentially bringing scores of projects planned for the next fiscal year to a grinding halt. Lawmakers in Congress need to pass a new federal transportation bill before it expires in September.
Even more needs to be done. While MAP-21 made important changes to the federal transportation program, the program still needs a reboot in the update due this fall.
Our cities, towns and suburbs across the country — the local centers of commerce that form the backbone of America’s economy—are also facing serious challenges: They know they must have top-notch transportation networks to attract talent, compete on a global scale and preserve their quality of life. They know they need to get workers of all wage levels to their jobs. They also know they need to eliminate crippling bottlenecks in freight delivery. These communities are stretching themselves to raise their own funds and to innovate, but without a strong federal partner the twin demands of maintaining their existing infrastructure and preparing for the future are beyond their means.
These challenges, as difficult as they are, present an opportunity to re-evaluate—and reinvigorate— the federal transportation program in ways that will boost today’s economy and ensure future prosperity.
The local leaders we’ve been speaking with have made it clear that if Congress wants support for raising more revenue for transportation, they need to give these folks at the local level more reasons to believe that it will be to their benefit.
Q: So how do we improve their confidence that more money for transportation will flow down to the level where it’s needed the most?
A: By adopting policies to refocus the federal transportation program on innovative, locally driven transportation solutions. For example, the second group of policies from our platform:
Spur local initiative and innovation through competition and incentives
When communities are given the opportunity to compete for federal funds, they work harder to put forward projects that maximize return on investment, provide creative solutions, and involve a diverse range of stakeholders. The next bill should:
Establish a national program of merit-based grants to help state and local applicants accomplish projects that fix existing infrastructure and improve critical links for moving people and freight;
Within states, give local communities increased access to federal funds, through mechanisms such as state-administered competitive grants or additional sub-allocation of funds, to help them meet pressing local transportation challenges; and
Reward communities that take action to address long-term transportation challenges – such as raising local revenues – with opportunities for additional funding.
Here’s what T4America’s Beth Osborne had to say about using competition and incentives to direct more money down to the local level while also generating better projects in the Atlantic Cities just this week:
At the moment, though, these centers of our economy have access to only a fraction of the money they pay into the nation’s transportation program. What would they do with the money if they had access to more of it? We have had a chance to see over the last five years with the TIGER program, which I helped oversee during my time at U.S. DOT. …Many excellent projects made the cut, and made a big difference. …All solved multiple problems at once, and almost none would have been funded under existing silos. The big lesson: Competition spurs innovation that formula funds never ever will. Competition generates incredible excitement and a desire to outdo your neighbor. As a result, federal dollars are made to go farther, more non-federal funds are brought in from both public and private sources, and every penny is targeted to accomplish multiple goals.
Visit t4america.org/policies to view the rest of the full platform and learn more about the proposals reflecting the needs expressed by local leaders across the country. They are reaching for economic opportunity with forward-looking plans, and going to voters to raise revenue, but they lack the access to enough resources to build the necessary 21st century infrastructure. Our communities need a dependable federal partner.
Incorporating their proposals into MAP-21′s replacement will help their cities, towns and suburbs prosper and flourish as places where businesses can thrive and people of all incomes and ages can live healthy and productive lives.
Four in five millennials say they want to live in places where they have a variety of options to get to jobs, school or daily needs, according to a new survey of Americans age 18-34 in 10 major U.S. cities, released today by The Rockefeller Foundation and Transportation for America.
Three in four say it is likely they will live in a place where they do not need a car to get around. But a majority in all but the largest metros rate their own cities “fair” or “poor” in providing public transportation, and they want more options such as car share and bike share.
The survey focused on the “millennial generation” – those born between 1982 and 2003 – because it is the largest generation in history, and it is the age group that any metro area that hopes to be viable in the future has to attract and keep.
Now, one caveat is that the survey respondents are already living in cities, so some self-selection is involved. Interestingly, though, the aspirations hold true even in cities that don’t have great options at the moment. The survey covered three cities with mature transit systems: Chicago, San Francisco and New York; four cities where transit networks are growing: Minneapolis, Denver, Charlotte and Los Angeles; and three cities making plans to grow their systems: Nashville, Indianapolis and Tampa-St. Petersburg.
Millennials like to stay connected when they travel
More than half (54%) of millennials surveyed say they would consider moving to another city if it had more and better options for getting around, and 66 percent say that access to high quality transportation is one of the top three criteria in considering deciding where to live next.
Even in a city like Nashville – a rapidly growing region with limited travel options – a strong majority of current millennial residents agree they “would prefer to live in a place where most people have transportation options so they do not need to rely only on cars” versus “a place where most people rely on cars to get around” – 54 percent “strongly” and 19 percent “somewhat” in agreement. The trick for Nashville and its peers will be hanging onto to those residents while attracting other talented young people. While 64 percent in Nashville say they expect to live in walkable places where they don’t necessarily need a car, only 6 percent say they currently live in such a place.
“These findings confirm what we have heard from the business and elected leaders we work with across the country,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “The talented young workforce that every region is trying to recruit aspires to live in places where they can find walkable neighborhoods with convenient access to services, including public transportation. Providing those travel and living options will be the key to future economic success.”
There are lots of other interesting tibits in the survey. You can read the news release here or see the full, topline results here.
In a huge victory for citizens and the local business community, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) Wednesday signed a long-sought bill giving metro Indianapolis counties the right to vote on funding a much-expanded public transportation network, including bus rapid transit.
“Our capital city is a world class destination and needs a world class transit system,” said Governor Mike Pence in his statementshortly after signing the bill allowing the six metro Indy counties to hold referendums to let voters decide whether to build a transit system using mostly income-tax revenue. After at least three attempts by boosters over the last few years to get a bill approved, Governor Pence signed the bill late yesterday afternoon
For three years, Indy leaders asked the state legislature to give them the ability and control to ask their own voters if an improved regional transportation network was something worth a few dollars more each year in additional income taxes — something that Indiana counties cannot do without permission of the state. Local mayors, county executives, citizens and many in the local business community have been clamoring for an improved transit network — including rapid bus corridors — for years to help keep Indy competitive. They just wanted their chance to make the case to the voters and let the citizens of metro Indy make their decision.
Gov. Pence apparently heard the message:
“I am a firm believer in local control and the collective wisdom of the people of Indiana. Decisions on economic development and quality of life are best made at the local level. Whether local business tax reform or mass transit, I trust local leaders and residents to make the right decisions for their communities.”
This was certainly a big victory for the business community, and an issue on which Indy Mayor Greg Ballard had lobbied hard, telling the Indy Star that he’d “been to the Statehouse more on this than any other issue.”
“This marks a significant step forward for the growth of Indy and the rest of Central Indiana,” said Mayor Ballard in his statement yesterday afternoon. In many ways, though, the hard work is really just beginning. While the state has indeed empowered the five metro Indianapolis counties to take the question to the ballot, that might not happen before 2015, and will require a huge effort to coordinate between the different counties and make the case to voters.
“Today is a day for Indy to celebrate but not the day to declare victory. There is still much work to be done,” Mayor Ballard said.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization was delighted by the news as well.
“Our region’s leaders have worked diligently on this bill for years, and it’s a major milestone for transit in Central Indiana,” said Sean Northrup of the Indy MPO. “It’s not the finish line but it takes us one major step closer. The bill requires specific proposals, so we’ll continue to refine the Indy Connect plan and we’re looking forward to our next round of public input meetings this spring.”
Several places have been in the news lately as they find their ambitious efforts to solve transportation challenges hinging on legislative action this lawmaking season. In some, state legislators are helping out with enabling legislation, but in others they are challenging the concept of local control and threatening needed investment.
An initial measure from a non-Nashville lawmaker would have required a vote of the General Assembly to approve the BRT line, despite the state DOT’s role in planning the line as a member of the Nashville Metropolitan Planning Organization’s board. An amendment to an unrelated bill said flatly: ”No rapid bus project in a metropolitan form of government, such as Nashville, could be built without the permission of the … General Assembly.”
Mayors of Tennessee’s four large cities immediately saw the threat that legislative micromanaging posed to their ability to meet their economic challenges and fired off a letter (pdf) that helped persuade legislators to try a different tack. The House version now simply affirms the status quo that the DOT must approve use of state right-of-way for a transit line and that only the legislature can appropriate state funds.
But new language was added in the Senate’s version that would prohibit any transit system from picking up or dropping off passengers in the middle of state roads as a “safety” measure — exactly what’s planned for The Amp line — regardless of what the Federal Transit Administration or engineers at TDOT have to say about the safety track record of center-running BRT. (Center running BRT is already in use or on the way in Cleveland, OH; Eugene, OR; San Bernardino, CA; Chicago, IL; and a handful of other cities.)
Current conditions on Ashland in Chicago, and rendering of the new planned center-running BRT for the corridor. Does one of these streets look safer for pedestrians than the other?
In Indiana, meanwhile, the legislature finally granted metro Indianapolis the right to vote on funding a much-expanded bus network, including bus rapid transit. What it won’t include is light rail, as dictated by the new law, which would allow six counties to hold referendums to let voters decide whether to build a transit system using mostly income-tax revenue, according to the Indianapolis Star.
Despite the mode-specific directive, it was a big victory for the business community, who pointed out that the state stands to benefit if growth engine Indianapolis continues to succeed economically. The region is a hotbed of healthcare jobs, and once again, providing a better bus system — something Mayor Greg Ballard and region’s other leaders are committed to doing — means that those employers get access to a bigger pool of workers, and workers of all incomes can reach a greater range of jobs.
Four years after their bus service was completely canceled, Clayton County just south of Atlanta proper is catching a helping hand from the Georgia general assembly. Lawmakers just passed a measure that would allow Clayton County voters to vote on approving a penny sales tax to restore local transit operations — something voters, local leaders and citizens alike strongly support.
When Clayton County lost that bus service, they lost something that employers — especially those at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport — depended on to get employees to work every day. There are thousands of jobs at that enormous airport right at the edge of Clayton County, and a good transit connection was a boost for jobs and residents to benefit from that economic magnet.
Up in Minnesota, the state is moving a huge comprehensive funding package for transportation across the state — one of many states considering ways to raise their own new revenue for transportation. (See our tracker) A House committee voted 9-6 Friday to pass the comprehensive transportation funding bill (HF 2395). Similar legislation didn’t make it through the House committee in 2013.
Supporting and enabling these efforts is exactly what states should be doing as local cities and regions are trying desperately to make these sorts of investments a reality, usually with their own skin in the game; not obstructing them at every turn.
When a city or region wants to raise a tax via public ballot vote to improve their transportation network, shouldn’t the state leaders proudly support those efforts of a city bootstrapping their way up?
Editors note: We’re in the process of updating it with 2014 information, but you can find similar information to the Minnesota plan over on our State Funding Tracker, which focuses largely on state (i.e., not local) plans to fund transportation.
While the 2012 federal transportation law, MAP-21, was not the transformational milestone many of us hoped for, it did put in motion a first-ever framework for accountability and transparency, establishing 12 basic metrics by which to judge agencies’ performance. It was left to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to put flesh on the bones by adopting rules for how to apply those performance measures. The first evidence of how the DOT is handling that job is now out in the form of a proposed set of requirements for judging progress on safety. Unfortunately, the draft out for comment does not bode well.
There are several reasons the proposed rule falls short – some technical, some less so – but the fundamental problem is that it is too weak to be useful as a standard for accountability.
The rule would require states to set their own targets for reducing, on public roadways, (1) the number of fatalities, (2) the number of serious injuries, (3) the rate of fatalities per vehicle mile traveled (VMT), and (4) the rate of serious injuries per vehicle mile traveled. These four measures were established in MAP-21; the state or MPO can develop additional measures if they choose.
States only need a 50 percent passing grade, meeting only half of the four measures required in law;
States can pass muster merely by showing little deviation from pre-existing trends; and,
States that miss their safety targets, however unlikely that is under this proposal, would be allowed an additional four years before they are required to implement any changes to improve their roadways’ safety.
There are many other issues around whether the rule adequately considers the safety of people on foot or bicycle – it doesn’t. Or differences among rural areas, small towns and large cities. (This post by the National Complete Streets Coalition examines these points and others in greater detail.)
This rule, if finalized as proposed, would allow the states that fail to meet the targets they set for themselves to avoid taking action to improve their outcomes. Further, the USDOT decision to require states to meet only two requirements gives short shrift to the idea of accountability.
As it stands, the federal incentives linked to performance measures, including achieving the nation’s goal of reducing the number of fatalities and serious injuries, are modest (though we hope they will grow as accountability becomes a more central feature of the federal program). States that cannot meet their own safety targets and cannot escape the exceedingly lenient evaluation would be required to submit an implementation plan that identifies how they will attempt to improve safety. They also will face constraints on their use of funding from the Highway Safety Improvement Program until the DOT secretary determines they have made significant progress.
Several factors in the way the DOT is implementing performance measures would seem to telegraph to states a lack of urgency or seriousness around accountability. States aren’t asked to begin working on setting targets until all the other measures are settled, expected no earlier than 2015. They are considered successful if they fall within 70 percent of predicted estimates, meaning fatalities and injuries could go up considerably and still be considered acceptable. A lag in data means they will be basing success or failure on a snapshot from four years past – enough time for a student to enter high school and graduate. Rather than push themselves and pertinent agencies to provide better data, faster, the DOT seems to consider the status quo acceptable.
There is still time to push for a better first effort at performance measures and show the DOT that the public demands a more serious and exacting approach to accountability. The public comment period ends on June 9, 2014. Final rules for all performance measures will be enacted at the same time, likely no sooner than spring 2015.
We’ll be back in touch right here soon with information on how to comment on this rule, along with our proposed recommendations and a mechanism for sending those in, but until then, you can submit comments directly to Regulations.Gov
Opponents in the Tennessee legislature have put forward an amendment designed to stop Nashville’s bus rapid transit line, eliciting howls of protest over legislative intervention in a local project previously approved by the state DOT.
Last updated: 4/12 1:24 p.m. at bottom. You may recall our profile of Nashville and it’s vision to get ahead of rapid growth by investing in bus rapid transit network. Nashville struggles with some of the worst congestion in the Southeast along with some of the longest peak-hour travel times in the nation.
That’s in part because the region’s economy has led the nation in rate of job growth. As population surges, metro leaders have been working to grow in a way that will continue attracting and retaining top-flight talent while avoiding the challenges that have plagued larger peers like Atlanta.
Their first big step toward a more sophisticated transit network is The Amp, an east-west line through the heart of the city that would connect diverse neighborhoods, major employers (including two hospitals and a university), and heavily visited tourist destinations.
Just last week they received the encouraging news that the Federal Transit Administration recommended $27 million in federal funding, the first installment of a potential $75 million match to state and local contributions.
That good news for supporters was overshadowed by an unexpected amendment explicitly crafted to require Nashville get the approval of the state legislature before being able to move ahead.
According to Nashville’s daily, The Tennessean, the amendment to a bill on crosswalk safety “says no rapid bus project in a metropolitan form of government, such as Nashville, could be built without the permission of the … General Assembly.”
In the same article, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean’s office called the move an “overreach” into a project that enjoys public and federal support. A followup piece further explored the issue of legislative intervention with Michael Skipper, executive director of the Nashville Metropolitan Planning Organization:
The Tennessee Department of Transportation is part of the MPO, which approved $4 million in Amp funding in December, and the governor or his designee sits on the agency’s board, Skipper said Friday.
“My position is that the project’s already approved by the state, and the governor’s concurrence is there,” he said. “These are typically executive branch decisions. …
“Giving the state legislature veto authority over projects that are already approved sort of undermines the federal law that requires the state and the locals to make these decisions together.”
The business community seemed to be shocked that the state would attempt to overrule local control on a plan that represents a key pillar of the local economic development strategy for a place so important to the state.
“You’ve got the largest regional economic contributor to this state, and it’s the only target of this limiting legislation,” said [Ralph] Schulz, president and CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
The amended crosswalk safety bill could move through the Tennessee legislature as early as Wednesday. The Amp coalition is urging supporters to make phone calls to their state representatives and the leadership to ensure that they hear all the voices from Nashville residents (see below.)
UPDATED (4:57 p.m.) The Nashville Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Middle Tennessee Mayors Caucus sent a letter today to the chairs of the Tennessee House and Senate transportation committees letting them know that “mayors and county executives see the legislation as an overreach that reduces our ability to make local decisions,” urging them to reconsider “any legislation that would interfere with TDOT’s ability to work with local communities to plan and select projects, particularly those that advance infrastructure improvements aimed at managing congestion and fostering economic growth in metropolitan areas.”
UPDATED 4/12 1:24 p.m. Another letter in opposition to the legislation was sent to the same state House and Senate committees from the mayors of the biggest four cities in Tennessee — Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville — cities that collectively account for 80 percent of the state’s GDP and 91 percent of the state’s job growth over the last year.
This concentration of economic activity, in turn, generates important tax revenue that funds services and infrastructure in all corners of our state. We plan to continue to grow, prosper, and serve as the economic drivers of our great state. And in order to do that, we need the ability to make decisions about infrastructure solutions in our communities, especially in the area of transportation, as mass transit is the only long- term solution to the increasing traffic congestion that accompanies our economic growth.
The transportation budget proposal President Obama released yesterday went well beyond setting spending levels for fiscal year 2015, outlining a vision for rebooting our nation’s transportation program. While the dollar figures may be considered moot by the two-year bipartisan budget that passed the Congress in December, the principles that he and his Administration put forward are substantially in line with what we’ve been hearing from business, elected and civic leaders across the country.
“The budget clearly recognizes that investment in infrastructure is essential in laying the groundwork for our future prosperity over many years,” said T4America director James Corless in our official statement yesterday. “Many of the priorities expressed in the budget clearly point in the right direction: keeping our system in good repair, supporting local efforts to promote economic development, spurring innovation through competitive grants and eliminating freight bottlenecks.”
For a breakdown of the key changes the Administration is proposing, see our analysis here. (PDF)
Step one, of course, is to figure out how to raise the money for transportation to shore up the transportation fund and make the investments necessary to ensure a prosperous economy.
Just to extend MAP-21 at the same funding levels, the trust fund requires an infusion of $19 billion next year or $100 billion over 6 years. We know that finding that sort of money won’t be an easy task, but having that conversation is the first crucial step. The President and House Ways and Means Chairman Camp both deserve recognition for presenting their preferred approach of using corporate tax reform to plug the funding gap.
The President’s budget proposes a 4-year, $302 billion surface transportation reauthorization, which is an $87 billion increase over the current spending levels.
To ensure the money is invested well, the Administration proposes several key policy moves: The first would be bringing all the programs and modes together in a unified transportation trust fund. The budget sets a priority on “fixing it first” and creates a program dedicated to repairing our most worrisome needs. It would strengthen competitive grant programs that foster innovation, local control and transparency, and create incentives for projects that deliver strong economic benefits. Freight choke points in our busiest economic centers would get special attention, regardless of mode. Acknowledging the tremendous surge in demand, public transportation projects would get a 70 percent boost.
The Administration’s priorities should inform the reauthorization of the federal program as Congress takes up the matter later this year. We at T4America look forward to seeing the details of how the Administration proposes to accomplish these goals in the President’s promised four-year reauthorization proposal.
As for what’s likely to happen next, because the bipartisan budget passed by Congress in December also set top-line budget amounts for the year (FY15) to come, it’s uncertain if the House or Senate will introduce or pass their own budget resolutions this year. Still, whether the ultimate legislative vehicle is the reauthorization of MAP-21 or appropriations bills later this year, it’s essential that Congress and the President come to agreement on a way to continue supporting communities’ efforts to maintain their transportation infrastructure and prepare for the future.
FY13 USDOT Appropriations (post sequestration)
FY14 USDOT Appropriations
President's FY15 Proposed Budget
Difference between FY14 Approps and President's FY15 budget proposal
Federal-Aid Highways
$39.62B
$40.26B
$47.32B
+$7.06B
Transit Formula Grants
$8.46B
$8.6B
$13.914B
+$5.314B
Transit 'New Starts'
$1.86B
$2.13B
$2.5B
+$370M
TIGER
$475M
$600M
$1.25B
+$650M
High Speed Rail/High Performance Passenger Rail
$0
$0
0*
-
Amtrak Capital
$902M
$1.05B
0*
-
Amtrak Operating
$441M
$340M
0*
-
Current Passenger Rail Service
-
-
$2.45B
+$1.06B**
Rail Service Improvement Program
-
-
$2.325B
+$2.325B
Freight Program
-
-
$1.0B
+$1.0B
Critical Immediate Investments
-
-
$4.85B
+4.85B
Fixing and Accelerating Surface Transportation (FAST)
-
-
$1.0B
+$1.0B
Rapid Growth Area Transit Program
-
-
$500M
+$500M
*The FY15 Budget consolidates existing rail programs into 2 new programs. **Compared to FY14 Appropriations for Amtrak Capital and Operations
Today President Obama and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) introduced separate proposals that would prevent the looming insolvency of the nation’s key infrastructure trust fund.
President Obama today unveiled a proposal for a four-year, $302 billion transportation bill, with a windfall from business tax reform covering the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund for that period. Chairman Camp proposed tax reform measures that would include staving off insolvency of the transportation fund for eight years. James Corless, director of Transportation for America, issued this statement in response:
“We are encouraged to see the threat to our nation’s transportation network begin to get the attention it deserves. With the bankruptcy of our transportation trust fund just months away, this can’t come soon enough. Just today, local leaders from across the country came to Capitol Hill to tell Congress what a robust federal investment in their transportation networks would mean for their economic development and long term prosperity. (See our blog post on today’s events here.)
These local leaders are putting their money where their mouth is, going to their voters for tax increases to pay for infrastructure they need. But as they said today, and as I reiterated in remarks to members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, their plans count on a dependable federal partner. Today’s actions by the Administration and key House leaders show the message may finally be getting through.
With the current transportation program expiring at the end of September, we look forward to working with Congress and the Administration on a fully funded program that promotes innovation, rewards initiative and gives local communities the latitude to solve their infrastructure challenges.”
Before a packed room on Capitol Hill, local leaders from three very different communities shared one very specific message with a handful of Congressmen and at least four dozen staffers: If Congress doesn’t act to shore up the nation’s transportation fund before it goes insolvent later this year, their cities and communities would bear the brunt of the pain.
Along with Reps. Richard Hanna (R-NY) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Transportation for America helped to bring local leaders to Washington to talk about what the looming insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund means for their communities. As we’ve noted here, states and local governments stand to lose nearly all access to federal transportation support next year if Congress doesn’t act to shore up the nation’s transportation fund sometime before the end of the summer. (The details of which were explored at length in a presentation by the day’s last panelist, Sarah Puro, Principal Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office.)
In between appearances by Reps. Blumenauer and Hanna, as well as comments from Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington and Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois, three local officials painted pictures of their ambitious transportation plans, and what the lack of federal investment would mean for them.
Normal, IL, Mayor Chris Koos shared the story of how city leaders revitalized their town’s core — and how federal support was the only way they could make it a reality. (Read that full story here.) He noted that the private sector has since followed through with millions in new investments, but that they were unwilling to invest in Uptown Normal until they knew the public sector was truly committed.
Rep. Rodney Davis, a Republican from the 13th District that includes Normal, came up and offered his support for Normal Mayor Chris Koos and expressed pride in this project in his district — a model for how the federal government could support a smart local vision that also had strong local and state funding and support.
Rep. Rodney Davis (right) greets Mayor Chris Koos of Normal, Illinois after the Mayor shared the story of the revitalization of Uptown Normal — made possible by a federal TIGER grant.
While Mayor Koos was speaking in one hearing room, Transportation for America director James Corless was telling a different group of more than 20 members of Congress the same story from Normal, Illinois.
He was testifying alongside many of the transportation industry groups in an invitation-only congressional roundtable hosted by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to discuss the next transportation bill. He told the 20-plus members of Congress there, along with transportation lobbyists and advocacy groups, that because local economies are the heart of the American economy, the federal program should support more local initiatives like Normal’s.
“Normal should be “normal,” not the exception,” Corless said.
While Normal is a small college town, Nashville, Tennessee is a much larger, booming metropolis. They’ve been adding jobs and people over the last ten years, and are expected to add a million more in another 20-plus years.
Marc Hill, Chief Policy Officer of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, explained how the business community and the chamber got together years ago and recognized that congestion threatens that economic prosperity.
“Six years ago, the Chamber began focusing on transit as a top priority — second only to improving public education.”
Marc Hill from the Nashville Chamber of Commerce
Why? They’ve certainly been inspired by watching and learning from some of their neighbors’ mistakes. “We don’t want to be another Atlanta. We don’t want to start working on transit 10 years after we’re in gridlock,” he said.
The business community is leading the way for making bus-rapid transit a reality in Nashville — and they hope that The Amp’s first line through the center of town is just the first component of what could be a wide-ranging regional bus-rapid transit system, the first of its kind in the South.
But, “there’s simply no way a local community can pull off something like this without a federal partnership,” he said. If the trust fund goes belly up and the federal contribution is curtailed for next year, Tennessee could be out $900 million and Nashville would lose $40 million.
Down in Florida, Tampa Bay is home to the 15th largest port in the nation and the closest to the Panama Canal in sea-miles. Charlie Hunsicker, director of the Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Dept and also speaking on behalf of the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, urged the Ways and Means members to consider freight as they mull how to rescue the trust fund from insolvency.
“Ports constitute the most important first mile, or last mile, in world trade,” he said.
Charlie Hunsicker, Director of the Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department.
The recurring theme today was clear: No matter how motivated and inspired, the American public and business community cannot do this alone.
Nashville is working on their local funding sources for The Amp, and hoping for the feds to support this region that’s “an economic driver, not just in Tennessee, but for the mid-South,” as Marc Hill put it. “There’s no lack of will locally to invest to be a full partner, a majority partner, but we absolutely can’t do it without that federal support.”
Messages and stories like these will continue to flow into Washington, DC from cities and towns and counties and districts all across the country.
But the ball is in Congress’ court, and especially the Ways and Means Committee that’s responsible for funding a transportation bill. Without a solution to the funding crisis, writing great new transportation policies will be like crafting a beautiful saddle without the horse.
These local leaders are counting on Congress to come through for them.
—
Photos from the event
Sarah Puro of the CBO gives a presentation at the briefing organized by Reps. Blumenauer and Hanna, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14
Rep. Richard Hanna speaking at the briefing organized by his office and Rep. Blumenauer, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14
Rep. Earl Blumenauer speaking at the briefing organized by his office and Rep. Hanna, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14
Rep. Jim McDermott stopped in to say a few words at the briefing organized by Reps. Blumenauer and Hanna, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) at the briefing organized by Reps. Blumenauer and Hanna, with Transportation for America. 2/26/14
Transportation for America’s John Robert Smith — himself a former mayor — kicks off the briefing with a few remarks.
In cities, towns and suburbs across the country, local leaders are responding to new economic challenges with innovative plans for their transportation networks, including taxing themselves to make their visions a reality. But they can’t do it alone and need strong federal and state partners to make it work.
Normal’s story is the third in our ongoing series of stories that illustrate how local communities across the country are casting a vision for transportation investments and often putting their own skin in the game first with local funding while hoping for a strong federal partner to make those plans a reality.
And that’s just what Normal found through the federal TIGER program.
(Don’t miss the short video we produced on Normal’s story, viewable on the full profile page linked below. -Ed.)
Normal, Illinois
A medium-sized city in central Illinois was one of the first to utilize a new, experimental program of competitive federal transportation grants to help implement a city-backed, city-led plan for revitalizing their downtown with a new transportation and civic centerpiece for the town.
It’s a successful model of exactly the kind of investments the federal transportation program should be supporting, and proof that it’s not always just big projects in big cities leading the way.
To explore the issue in that light, we’re supporting a bipartisan briefing pulled together by two key House members, Reps. Richard Hanna (R-NY) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), on the upcoming expiration of the current transportation law (MAP-21) and the aforementioned shortfall of the Highway Trust Fund. The panel this Wednesday for Hill staffers and media will include three local leaders who understand that investments in transportation are catalysts for development and economic success, using their perspective to localize the impacts of this story.
A medium-sized city in central Illinois was one of the first to utilize a new, experimental program of competitive federal transportation grants to help implement a city-backed, city-led plan for revitalizing their downtown with a new transportation and civic centerpiece for the town. It’s a successful model of exactly the kind of investments the federal transportation program should be supporting, and proof that it’s not always just big projects in big cities leading the way. Read the full story here
What Mayor Koos from Normal, Illinois shares in that profile is the same message all three local leaders will bring to Washington on Wednesday: No matter how motivated and inspired, the American public and business community cannot do this alone. They need a federal partner that ensures their plans can be realized to provide businesses the opportunity to compete in today’s global economy and allow people to efficiently access jobs and markets.
Also at the briefing will be Sarah Puro, an expert from the Congressional Budget Office, who will share a CBO analysis of the status of the Highway Trust Fund and the choices facing Congress regarding spending from and revenues collected by the fund.
Briefing panelists include The Honorable Chris Koos, Mayor of Normal Illinois; Marc Hill, Chief Policy Officer of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce; Charles Hunsicker, Director of Manatee County Florida Parks and Natural Resources, and Sarah Puro, Principal Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Be sure to follow us on Twitter on Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. to hear a few highlights, and watch this space for a short wrap-up after the briefing.
Transportation for America is pleased to announce the hiring of Beth Osborne, a key leader in federal policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she served in the office of the Secretary since 2009 as Deputy Assistant Secretary and then Acting Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy.
In her new position, Ms. Osborne will serve as President of Transportation for America’s newly-created mission-driven consulting service, directing the organization’s on-the-ground work with the local communities seeking to invest in the infrastructure required for their — and the country’s — continued economic prosperity.
As a veteran of administering the competitive TIGER grant program at U.S. DOT, there are few who understand not only the difficulty in obtaining funding for innovative transportation projects, but also just how crucial these projects are to local communities. Ms. Osborne will oversee a new Transportation for America service dedicated to providing capacity, support and resources to the local communities and local leaders across the country that know smarter approaches to infrastructure and development are keys to their economic success.
She will also lead the newly created Center for Innovative Funding and Finance at Transportation for America, a go-to resource for leaders in both the public and private sector who are looking for insight on creative funding sources and financing for infrastructure that serves economic development and neighborhood revitalization.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome an expert like Beth to our team,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. “Few people in the country know as much as she does about how communities can get critical, innovative projects done in the complexities of today’s funding and policy environment, and we’re proud to bring her to Transportation for America.”
At the U.S. DOT, Ms. Osborne has played a key role in helping to steer federal policy toward creating more opportunities and greater latitude for local communities to improve their transportation networks in service to their economic development goals. She has been especially instrumental in implementing the popular TIGER program begun by Congress in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, helping to set evaluation criteria and select recipients of the competitive grants.
As a former Congressional staff lead on transportation, she also knows the ins and outs of the legislative process for the federal program; essential experience as the House and Senate prepare to take up reauthorization of MAP-21 later this year.
”I am so excited to join the team at Transportation for America,” said Ms. Osborne. “I’m eager to be a part of helping motivated local communities turn their ambitious transportation plans and visions into reality. It’s not easy to make projects happen in this climate today and I look forward to being a part of their success.”
Almost 1,000 people heading to Denver, Colorado this week for the annual New Partners for Smart Growth conference will get to see up close what we recently called “a bold bet on an ambitious and comprehensive plan to expand their transportation network a decade ago” in our profile of Denver’s transportation success.
In between sessions and during the countless tours and mobile workshops — and thanks to free (!!) Regional Transit District passes — the attendees will get to taste the fruits of the region’s ambitious and decades-in-the-making transportation investments all around them: Brand new light rail lines with more on the way, a gorgeous old train station being restored to a downtown civic and transportation hub, commuter railroads, and neighborhood investment all around.
Denver’s is a compelling story of a modern western city that realized, despite their success, they couldn’t rest on past accomplishments. To succeed economically for decades to come, they needed a bold plan for a regional transportation network. We profiled it recently in one of our inspiring stories of local success and innovation
So how is Denver making all this happen? First and foremost, through a lot of civic moxie. But the region also has depended on federal contributions.
If Congress drops the ball on rescuing the nation’s transportation fund from certain bankruptcy in 2014, stories like Denver’s will be relegated to the history books as similar plans gather dust on the shelf. Read more about our plan to save the nation’s transportation fund.
This is critical to for our economic success, as Denver’s leaders make crystal clear in our profile.
Denver: Betting on the future and seeing early returns
Tom Clark can cite the exact moment in 1997 when metro Denver’s economic leaders became convinced that a more comprehensive rail and bus network was critical to the region’s prosperity. They were talking to executives at Level 3 Communications about a potential relocation, but their prospects were balking. They were afraid that without transit, Denver’s potential workforce was effectively cut in half because of congestion on I-70, the main east-west interstate artery.
“They were the catalytic piece of us deciding that we really had to get serious and get transit back on the ballot again,” said Clark, CEO of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation. “It was one of those a-ha moments in your life where you just go ‘Wow, this has real economic implications.’” …
Denver Flickr photo by vxla httpwww.flickr.com/photos/vxla/2850571117
We’ve heard from local elected officials, business leaders and citizens from around the country who think that Denver’s transportation tale is one worth emulating — the blueprint for a winning effort to invest in new transportation options to keep a good economy prospering into the future.
It’s the kind of local innovation and big thinking that Congress should be working hard to support.
As this conference shines a spotlight on Denver (are you attending?), help us spread the word about this inspiring story and pass it along, or post to your social networks.
New revenue projections for the Highway Trust Fund released this week from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show that, not only is the nation’s transportation fund going in the red sooner than expected, but the gap to maintain promised funding levels has increased by about $5 billion.
The gloomy news from the CBO report is twofold: (1) The “transportation fiscal cliff” is likely to come before the end of September; and (2) fully funding MAP-21 for another year after it expires this September is projected to now require $19 billion — $5 billion more than originally thought.
Though the news from CBO is worse than many in DC expected, the bottom line hasn’t changed: If Congress doesn’t act sometime in the next eight months, nearly all of the federal transportation program will be halted in fiscal year 2015.
Specifically, the CBO report estimates the Highway Account of the Trust Fund will run out of cash to pay for day-to-day operations before the expiration of MAP-21 on September 30th. This is due in part to the fact that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is supposed to reimburse states every business day, but gas tax receipts are deposited in the Trust Fund only twice a month. The uncertainty between gas tax receipts and cash outlays will require FHWA to slow payments to states and/or pay smaller sums should Congress not address the “transportation fiscal cliff” in a timely manner.
These forced actions by FHWA will result in states and local communities stopping investments in transportation projects that are critical to their long-term economic development. As a result, communities across the country that are raising their own taxes and hoping for a strong federal partner to support their efforts might have to shelve their ambitious plans.
Looking past the expiration of MAP-21 this September and into the future, the CBO report also gives us a sobering picture of just how much additional transportation revenue is needed to move forward. To fund a six-year authorization bill at the same spending levels as MAP-21, the trust fund needs an additional $100 billion in tax receipts or, however unlikely, transfers from the general fund for the fiscal period from 2015 to 2020. To fund a two-year bill similar to MAP-21 would require an additional $35 billion more than the trust fund currently brings in.
This picture won’t magically get any better, either. Inflation marches on and cars will continue using less and less gas. The roughly $39 billion of incoming gas tax revenues of today aren’t projected to grow a dime ten years from now, and many intelligent people think this projection could be too rosy, considering that the previously mentioned shifts in fuel efficiency and driving habits are expected to persist.
We absolutely must invest more money in America’s transportation system, and Transportation for America’s alliance of elected, business and civic leaders are working to move Congress toward timely action on this vital issue. Please read Transportation for America’s plan for an increase in federal transportation funding that rewards smart, locally driven transportation projects and guarantees local communities get the money they need to fix an aging system while also building the new infrastructure their economies depend on.
