ARRA Archives - Transportation For America

Do you know a good job-creation story from the stimulus?

The $787 billion stimulus from 2009 included roughly $30 billion for transportation, and $8 billion specifically for transit. Also, large transit agencies had the flexibility to use a portion of their stimulus money to operate trains and buses, in many cases keeping already painful cuts and fare increases from getting any worse.

So here’s the call: Did you get a job or keep a job by virtue of the spending on transit in the stimulus? We want to hear from you and hear your story. Are you building railcars or buses? Some other part of the supply chain for transit?

Share your story with us directly at info@t4america.org. And pass this along to anyone you know who might have a story to share with us.

Transit grants out the federal door, but what about the cuts?

Park and Ride Ribbon Cutting Originally uploaded by WSDOT

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is (rightfully) touting the great news on his blog this morning that the Federal Transit Administration met their ambitious deadline for distributing 100% of the transit funds from the stimulus package. That’s great news, but it should be accompanied by the sobering reminder that these public transportation systems that get people to work each day largely couldn’t use that money to keep from having to cut service at a time when it’s needed the most.

The FTA has now doled out 881 grants totaling $7.5 billion since the stimulus was signed last year, and LaHood notes that these grants have funded the purchase of nearly 12,000 buses, vans and rail vehicles; construction or renovation of more than 850 transit facilities; and $620 million in preventive maintenance to keep systems running smoothly.

But what about the hundreds of agencies cutting back service, raising fares, or laying off workers — like the terrible story from Atlanta we chronicled last Friday, where 25-30% of all service may be history come June?

Unfortunately, the FTA’s hands were tied with the rules for the grants set by Congress, which meant that almost all of the money had to be used to purchase new equipment or perform maintenance, even if those agencies couldn’t afford to hire or train the new drivers to operate the buses or railcars. We say “most of the money,” because a group of lawmakers were able to successfully include a provision in a separate bill during the summer that made it possible for local transit agencies to spend up to 10% of their transit stimulus money on operations. But in many places like St. Louis, where the deficit was ten times the $4.6 million they could now spend on service, that’s not enough to keep from having to make drastic cuts or lay workers off, even while getting an influx of federal money.

With a full transportation bill likely months away, in the short term we need to urge the Senate to include money in any future jobs bills to help keep transit systems running.

With millions who depend on these systems each day to get to work, making sure that reliable transit service doesn’t disappear will help get them to their jobs quickly and conveniently each day, ensuring that many of them stay employed.

Will the TIGER grants reinforce metropolitan areas?

Rob Puentes of the Brookings Institution, writing for New Republic’s The Avenue, wrote a post this morning examining where transportation stimulus dollars have been directed. You can’t get too far reading the Brookings Metro Program without seeing a notable statistic: the 100 largest metro areas contain two-thirds of our population and produce 75 percent of GDP on just a fraction of the country’s land area. Puentes notes that the transportation element of the stimulus was not especially well targeted to metro areas to best leverage that economic power.

With most of the stimulus money flowing through state DOTs that don’t always prioritize spending in metropolitan areas, that’s probably not surprising.

But he found a different story entirely when he and his colleagues examined the $1.5 billion in TIGER grants announced earlier this week. He writes:

But what about the geographic spread? Over 80 percent of the projects and 70 percent of total TIGER funding is targeted to the 100 largest metro areas. That’s not just the super-large places like New York and Chicago, but also important metros like Louisville, Tulsa, and Providence.

As Washington considers the additional steps needs to retain and create jobs, the TIGER’s recognition of the economic primacy of U.S. metropolitan area should be illustrative.

TIGER Grants Offer Critical Support to Communities with Innovative Transportation Projects

Merit-based program an excellent model for the next transportation authorization

The Obama Department of Transportation today broke historic ground in unveiling projects chosen in a first-ever program to award federal dollars on a competitive basis to innovative projects that address economic, environmental and travel issues at once.

The 51 projects announced under the TIGER grant program, funded by $1.5 billion included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), meet a broad array of challenges, including:

Bridge replacements in Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Indiana that can support multiple modes of travel;
Port and freight-rail projects to spur economic growth in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, Hawaii, Pennsylvania and Ohio;
Modern streetcar construction to support vibrant urban corridors in Tucson, Dallas, Portland and New Orleans and light rail in Detroit;
Innovative highway funding and operations in Texas, North Carolina, Colorado, South Carolina and Arkansas;
Bicycle and pedestrian networks in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and a complete streets project in Dubuque, IA;
The long-awaited rebirth of New York’s former Penn Station as Moynihan Station.

“These are the kinds of projects that will create good paying jobs, spur local economic development, revive our city centers and create regional integrated transportation solutions,” said John Robert Smith, the co-chair of T4 America and former Mayor of Meridian, Mississippi. “Today’s announcement clearly shows the administration’s commitment to supporting livability initiatives in metropolitan regions, smaller communities and rural areas alike.”

A complete list of recipients can be found on the US DOT press release.

Project applications had to show multiple benefits, with priority give to these criteria: 1) that projects improve the condition of existing facilities and systems, 2) contribute to the economic competitiveness of the U.S. over the medium- to long-term, 3) improve the quality of living and working environments for people, 4) improve energy efficiency, reduce dependence on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and benefit the environment, and 5) improve public safety.

Secretary LaHood spoke from Kansas City, showcasing the city’s Green Impact Zone, an area of high unemployment and concentrated poverty that is being revitalized with green buildings, clean transportation options including public transportation and bicycle and pedestrian projects.

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood noted that the program was extraordinarily sought-after, garnering 1,400 applications totaling nearly $60 billion for the $1.5 billion pot. “The sheer popularity of this ground-breaking approach is testament to how many states and localities are struggling to build innovative projects that simply don’t happen under the pre-existing program,” Mayor Smith said.

“We hope this is a glimpse of what the next transportation authorization could look like,” Smith added. “Congress needs to build on this success and authorize the surface transportation program along similar lines to support innovation and integrated transportation solutions in communities of all sizes.”

How have states fared with the billions in transportation stimulus funds?

You may recall that the $787 billion economic stimulus bill that passed in February had nearly $30 billion allocated for transportation investments. That money was given out to states and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) — largely free of any criteria or requirements for what projects it should be spent on.

Smart Growth America released a report today examining how well states have been spending these billions. As they say on the Smart Growth America blog today, not only did the money arrive in a time of economic recession, but “at a time of embarrassingly large backlogs of road and bridge repairs, inadequate and underfunded public transportation systems, and too-few convenient, affordable transportation options.”

So after 120 days, how have states done in addressing these pressing needs and investing in progress for their communities?

After analyzing project descriptions provided by states and MPOs, Smart Growth America found forward looking states and communities that used the stimulus money as flexibly as possible, repairing roads and bridges and making the kinds of smart, 21st century transportation investments that their communities need to support strong economic growth.

Other states and communities missed this golden opportunity to create jobs while making progress on their most pressing transportation needs. These states spent their precious funds on building new roads rather than repairing existing roads, and ignored the chance to spend the money flexibly on the kinds of options that their residents really want — like public transportation or streets safe for walking and biking — leaving their communities stuck in traffic and stuck in the past.

…Despite the golden opportunity of extra funding, most states did not use the opportunity to make as much progress as possible on long-term goals. Even though repair backlogs can stretch years or decades into the future, nearly one-third of the money, $6.6 billion, went towards roadway new capacity projects. At a time when public transportation ridership is hitting all-time highs and the budget crunch is causing transit agencies to cut routes, service and jobs, an abysmal 2.8% was spent on public transportation. Only 0.9% percent was spent on non-motorized projects (i.e., bike and pedestrian projects).

Read more about the report and download the full version from Smart Growth America.

Transportation Secretary LaHood on Obama’s recovery package

398px-ray_lahood U.S. DOT Secretary Ray Lahood released his statement on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and he’s saying many of the right things. Of course, the true test will come when the states start deciding where to spend the flexible transportation dollars in the stimulus package. Will states choose to make a dent in the severely backlogged repair and maintenance needs before building new highways?

(On that note, Recovery.gov also launched today, where anyone can track where the stimulus money is being spent.)

A notable excerpt from the middle of LaHood’s release:

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We will use the transportation funding in the Act to deliver jobs and restore our nation’s economy. We will emphasize sustainable investment and focus our policies on the people, businesses and communities who use the transportation systems. And, we will focus on the quality of our environment. We will build and restore our transportation foundations until the American dream is returned.

We will invest in jobs to expand transit capacity and modernize transit systems. Transit is a centerpiece of my focus on livable communities and our Department will work closely with Vice President Biden’s “Middle-class Taskforce” on transit initiatives.

We will invest in jobs to allow Amtrak to add and modernize cars and engines and upgrade its tracks.

We will invest in jobs to expand airport capacity and make safety improvements.

We will invest in jobs to build and rehabilitate and make safer roads, highways, bridges and ports.

And we will invest in jobs to launch high-speed rail in America. This will transform intercity transportation in America, reduce our carbon footprint, relieve congestion on the roads and in the skies, and take advantage of a mode of transportation that has already benefited Europe and Japan for many years.

There are those who argue that we need to waive environmental regulations to put people to work more quickly, but that is simply not the case. We have a backlog of worthwhile transportation projects waiting for funding that have already met those standards. We are ready to build a new transportation infrastructure and we will work to keep it green.

I have met with state officials and other transportation stakeholders, and we have discussed how the money can be spent quickly to create jobs on projects that make long-term sense for our transportation systems in communities across the nation. We also reviewed the need for transparency and full accountability on this spending. We will do things by the book.

Summary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

For those of you who don’t check the “Campaign News” tab at top on a regular basis or get the full RSS feed, we posted our full summary of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. If you are interested in the full, detailed, numerical breakdown of transportation spending in the stimulus package, this is the post for you.

Read Transportation For America’s full summary of the provisions and funding requirements for transportation in The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.