Thousands of transit workers gathered near the Capitol today in protest of the crippling service cuts and layoffs that are devastating transit agencies throughout the country.

The “Keep America Moving” rally,  co-sponsored by the Amalgamated Transit Union and Transport Workers Union, aimed to turn up the heat for Congressional action on operating aid. One look at Transportation for America’s transit funding crisis map shows how dire things are, reminding us that the problem is bigger than any single agency, city or state. A national crisis requires a national response, and that is exactly what today’s event was about.

The mix of bus drivers, station agents and other industry workers came primarily from New York, although Washington, Atlanta and Boston were represented as well. Many carried signs with messages like “hands off my station agents,” “think before you cut” and another with “don’t cut the _____ bus route,” with workers filling in the blank. T-shirts distributed to participants bore the message “mass transit is America’s future.”

The rally built upon a recent series of high-profile events with similar objectives. In an unusual and provocative move, buses or trains targeted for deep cuts or elimination in Atlanta’s MARTA system were marked with large X’s last week to show residents the transportation options they’re slated to lose. Both MARTA and the neighboring C-Tran in Clayton County, Georgia — a system that was forced to close entirely — were cited by speakers today.

Congressman Keith Ellison, a Democrat from Minneapolis, told the crowd he is committed to fighting for transit assistance this year. He reminded all the workers present that this issue isn’t just about them — the vital workers who keep our buses and trains running — it’s about the millions who depend on those buses and trains to get to work each day. With federal money to keep transit systems running, “we not only help save your jobs, we help you get other people to their jobs,” Rep. Ellison said. “I’m going to be fighting for you and telling your story right here on the House floor today.”

He was followed by Rev. Jesse Jackson, who got the crowd fired up and demanded hope despite the clouds on the horizon.

Calling cuts to bus service in Atlanta and elsewhere “an economic heart attack,” Jackson said “people with dialysis can’t get to the hospital, children can’t get to school, workers lose their jobs.”

Jackson called for broader partnerships to save transit jobs and halt cuts, saying “students must join the coalition, teachers must join the coalition, environmentalists must join the coalition. This is not just about the drivers, it’s about the riders, about health, the environment.”

And in a call-and-response, Jackson told the audience to “keep hope” and “roll on, bus drivers.”

Upon the conclusion of Jackson’s remarks, JP Patafio of the ATU thanked him for “giving us a voice.” It was clear from the reception the Reverend received that he was right.

TWU Local 100 Originally uploaded by Transportation for America

Americans are continuing to open their wallets and vote with their feet in support of increased transportation options, despite a tough economic climate. On Tuesday, a half-cent sales tax to fund the Metro transit system in St. Louis County in Missouri was approved by a decisive 63 percent of the vote. The increased revenue from Proposition A  will allow officials to restore previously eliminated bus lines and expand the system into more far-reaching suburbs. The measure will also restore lost Call-A-Ride service, a door-to-door van for older and disabled riders.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

If the measure failed, service would have been scaled back to about half the level it was before Metro’s first round of service cutbacks in March 2009. Metro suspended bus service to 2,300 of the 9,000 bus stops and bus shelters in the Missouri half of the transit system.

MetroLink trains ran less often on both sides of the Mississippi River during times when commuters needed them the most: rush hour. Federal stimulus money helped restore some of that lost service in August, but that money soon will run out.

Although public transportation will not be on truly secure funding until Congress approves and President Obama signs a new and forward-looking transportation bill, it is terrific to see communities like St. Louis step up and refuse to wait. For now, St. Louis County has a reliable local funding stream for its transit system and the ability to plan for overdue expansion. The margin of victory conveys strong and bipartisan support for Metro in St. Louis County, which has a much more moderate electorate than the city proper.

The election excited the student body at Washington University, which is located in St. Louis. The campus chancellor, Mark Wrighton, served as co-chair of the Proposition A campaign. Many students volunteered for the campaign and 20,000 alumni living in St. Louis County received letters of support.

The campaign also relied on Congressman William Lacy Clay, who represents much of the city of St. Louis, and an ad hoc committee of black clergy were also involved.

John Nations, the Republican mayor of suburban Chesterfield, made an astute point about how a vote for Proposition A was also a vote for jobs. He told the Post-Dispatch: “there was a cost to voting no. If it was voted down, people lose their jobs at Metro. People are going to lose their jobs because they can’t access them.”

St. Louis County voted yes to jobs and yes to transit.

Clayton County, one of metro Atlanta’s five core counties — Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport is partially in Clayton — will terminate all transit service in 14 days. The transit service, which provides over 2 million rides each year on buses “full to bursting” with riders, according to MARTA CEO Beverly Scott, will shut down service entirely, leaving the 50% or more of C-Tran riders with no regular access to a car stranded.

Public transportation (or anything that provides people with mobility) is really about access. It gives people access to opportunity, access to daily needs, access to a job, access to life — and maybe even the means to improve the quality of that life.

One story highlighted in October in this piece from the Atlanta Journal Constitution shows the vital connection that C-Tran makes for one Clayton County resident:

Twenty-year-old Bridget Milam takes Clayton County’s bus system, C-Tran, wherever she goes. She takes it to Brown Mackie College in Atlanta, where she’s getting an associate’s degree in early childhood education. She rides it to her job at a day care center. She has never had a car and can’t afford one now. C-Tran is her lifesaver. Not for long.

…[she] may have to put school and her day care job on hold. “It means I have to find a job closer to home, in walking distance,” she said. “It would probably be fast food.” …Milam expressed frustration that she will “have to settle rather than doing something that could further my career.”

Access to the opportunity that public transit provides can mean the difference between becoming a teacher one day — or a future of asking customers if “they’d like fries with that?”

Despite a proposal to raise fares dramatically, the deficit was still at $1.3 million, and the 5 county commissioners voted 4-1 last year to shut the service down completely, asserting in a statement that “paving roads is a primary duty of the county. Public transit isn’t.”

The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority disagreed strongly with that view. “In Georgia, local roads are a local responsibility, and local transit is a local responsibility,” GRTA Deputy Director Jim Ritchey told the AJC.

Unfortunately for Bridget Milam and thousands of others in Clayton County who depend on C-Tran each day to get to work, class, the doctor or pretty much anything else, Clayton County leaders don’t see it that way — leaving them stranded at the station come April 1.

If you’ve been affected by cuts in transit service or fare increases — especially if you’re in Clayton County, Georgia — tell us your story and we’ll help share it with Congress.

UPDATED: Like this touching story that Carmen, a now former C-Tran rider, shared with us on that page:

Hello. My name is Carmen and I’ve been a passenger on CTRAN’s paratransit service for as long as they have been in service. I work for Delta Air Lines and use the service to get back and forth to work. At this time, I have to move closer to my job in the Fulton County area. This is a hardship because now I have to cancel my lease agreement with my current apartment complex in order to move. They have been very helpful but I really did not want to move because of the negligence of Clayton County managing the taxpayers’ funds. Not everyone can afford to move at the last minute. I truly hope that Clayton County uses the funds they do have in reserve, as mentioned by Eldrin Bell, to keep CTRAN running. If the Commisioners or their family members were in our position maybe they would look at the situation differently. But of course those that are not affected are not concerned at all and that is a shame they are not here for the people.

Update 2: Read this superb and touching story from the LA Times on the last day of service.

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.

Transit riders in Metro Atlanta will soon require a new system map to find their way because the current map is about to be ancient history, a document fit for use only by archivists and history buffs. Of course, this would only apply to those who still have a bus or train to wait for after MARTA goes through with massive cuts this year. This story from the Atlanta Journal Constitution was included in a few headline posts from the usual suspects earlier this week, including one of ours, but the desperate situation in Atlanta is worth a closer look.

Wrap your head around this number: MARTA is facing a budget deficit of $120 million, on an operating budget of $399.1 million, making their deficit nearly a full third of the operating budget.

As a result, the cuts the agency is forced to consider are downright shocking. More than half of Atlanta’s 131 bus routes could be cut entirely, and rail service will be cut severely. Wait times for a train could be as much as 30 minutes on weekends before 7 a.m. and after 9 p.m., and even rush-hour train intervals could be as much as 12 minutes. The AJC pegs the cuts as approximately 25-30 percent of all service.

While the loss of routes or the inconvenience of long waits and increased transfers will result in some riders going back to their cars or finding other options, what about the thousands who depend on MARTA as their transportation lifeline to reach work, get to the doctor or pick up their kids at school? The “lucky” ones might have an alternative, a longer wait or less convenience. But too many riders will be left completely stranded, unable to get to important destinations as routes disappear entirely in the South’s biggest metro and the economic core of the state.

The popular refrain among some Atlantans is that MARTA is a bloated bureaucracy that wastes money. The truth is far different. MARTA enjoys the lowest cost per-mile of passenger rail service for any heavy rail system in the United States, and survives on a penny sales tax from two counties, with no dedicated funding stream from the State of Georgia. They are the largest transit agency with no such dedicated funding source in the country.

This year’s situation was narrowly avoided last year when the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the region, found a way to transfer $25 million in last year’s stimulus funds to MARTA. In return the agency spent $25 million of capital funds on infrastructure improvements around their stations like better sidewalks, crosswalks, and other vital bike and pedestrian improvements to improve access.

The creative deal with the ARC was necessary because by a curious — and old — piece of state law, MARTA has to evenly split their tax revenues between operations and capital funds (they have a capital budget of $388 million this year), meaning they aren’t even able to set their own operating budget.

The Georgia State Senate passed a bill that would have removed that rule, allowing MARTA the flexibility to set their own operations and capital budgets. This would have enabled the agencyto basically plug budget holes with a share of (formerly) capital funds — never an ideal situation, but one that would have staved off dramatic fare increases and wholesale cancellation of service. Unfortunately for Atlantans, that bill died in the Georgia State House on the last day of the legislative session, leaving many upset and frustrated at the State’s failure to act.

Even with the funds from the ARC, MARTA had to raise their base fare $0.25, and weren’t able to restore all of the service that had been proposed for cuts, though they did avoid the drastic step of closing down service entirely one day a week.

MARTA Board Chairman Michael Walls pointed out that this was no permanent solution to the crisis, noting “this is a one-time infusion of funds” in a MARTA press release. “We are facing increasing deficits in the coming fiscal years. It is imperative that we identify a permanent, dedicated source of funding for transit as soon as possible in order to avoid more drastic cuts in the future,” he said.

That future has become the present, so what will the State do this time? Will they remove the barrier that prevents MARTA from making their own budget? At a broader level, what help will the federal government provide for the hundreds of other transit agencies facing this same crisis? Will they turn their back on the millions who depend on public transportation each day?

Want to do something? Here are three things you can do:

1. Tell Senator Harry Reid to include funding for keeping transit systems running in the next round of jobs-creation legislation he’s planning to bring to Congress.
2. Tell us your story! How are these cuts going to affect you in your daily life? Will you be going back to your car? Will you be stuck with no way to get to work? We want to know.
3. If you’re in Atlanta, join up with the Citizens for Progressive Transit or the Area Coalition for Transit Now Facebook page calling for Gov. Perdue to call a special legislative session. These groups are also joining with others in Atlanta to organize a “Ride MARTA” day in late March to drum up support statewide.

The Court’s ruling late last week upheld a lower court decision declaring the state’s $3.6 billion raid of public transit funds illegal and ordered that the money be returned to local transit providers.

Two months ago, Transportation for America released “Stranded at the Station: The Impact of the Financial Crisis in Public Transportation,” illustrating the painful cuts transit systems have sustained at the state and local level. The cuts plateaued as unemployment reached 10 percent and Americans were demanding more transportation options, not less.

It is no secret that California has fallen hard as a result of the recession, but the severity of the cuts to public transportation in California was vastly disproportionate to the rest of the country. The reason for this was no mystery: the State was raiding dedicated transit funds every year in order to alleviate other budgetary shortfalls since 2007.

More than two dozen transit providers throughout the state enacted some combination of fee hikes and service reductions, according to our map of transit cutbacks. BART in the San Francisco Bay Area increased its base fare by 17 percent, and many transit systems in Southern California raised fares as much as 20 percent. The County Connection in suburban Contra Costa reduced its bus lines by 23 percent, and rural areas were hit hard as well. The California Transit Association, or CTA, an affiliation of local transit providers, logged 38 agencies facing cuts of some kind in their own version of our transit cuts map.

Last week’s state Supreme Court’s decision helps explain how things got this bad.

Since 2007, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has successfully diverted $3.6 billion from the state’s transit fund to deficit reduction, prompting a lawsuit from the CTA to get the money back. The CTA argued that the raided funds came from gas tax revenues specifically designated for public transit. By refusing to review a lower-court decision in favor of the association, the high court effectively ruled Schwarzenegger’s raid illegal, ending the seizure of desperately-needed transit funds.

This is a huge victory and vindication for local transit providers. Randy Rentschler, director of the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission, told the San Francisco Chronicle, “everyone knows that the state’s in a budget crisis, but that crisis also exists in local governments in part because the state has taken transit money away from local entities.”

The case has broader implications for public transportation as well.

In tough budget years, Governor Schwarzenegger and the legislature are constantly looking for places to trim and local governments are an easy target. But money saved is not money earned, as local cuts tend to bite the state later through increased demand for social services and counties being unable to meet the basic needs of their citizens. The decision will hopefully lead to more caution.

Most importantly, California can no longer rob Peter to pay Paul.

But at this point, it remains unclear how much of the original $3.6 billion will be returned to the transit fund, and ultimately, to local providers to preserve vital service for riders. That money is desperately needed, not only because of the millions of Californians who rely on public transportation for their day-to-day mobility, but also because many communities are on the cusp of becoming success stories. Transportation for America’s “Stranded” report profiles how efforts in Sacramento, Orange and Contra Counties have already improved quality of life and relieved congestion, highlighting the need to keep up the support.

It’s not too late to share your own story. Here are excerpts from just four of the many stories that have already been shared.

On a personal level, however, I have my own story to share. I recently broke my right ankle and cannot drive. Even though I work for the transit department, I cannot get here using transit services. The deviated fixed route service can pick me up at my home in the morning, but only goes within three miles of my office. The demand-response JARC service is maxed out and cannot get me to work before 9:30 (I start work at 8). If I start work later in the day and work until 6:30 instead of 5:00 which is my normal time, I cannot get home.

In addition, the surgeon who set my ankle only does x-rays on Friday starting at 4:30p.m. Our medical transportation has been limited to appointments between the hours of 10 and 1:30 in order to allow adequate time to get people home in our very rural county. I cannot get to my doctor for x-rays using public transportation, and have to have a family member drive 25 miles to pick me up and take me two miles from my home to get my ankle x-rayed.

It is somewhat ironic that as a Contract Administrator for the public transit system, I cannot get to and from work or the doctor while temporarily disabled. I have learned firsthand how our customers struggle to manage their appointments and transportation needs with diminishing transportation services available to them.

…Now, in Everett, WA, I face a similar dilemma even with a far superior transit system that is only lacking in one significant detail: It doesn’t run late enough. Someone, somewhere, missed the memo that the mall closes at 9 o’clock, and the bus stops running from there eight minutes before closing. All the workers are left wanting. On a Saturday, a busy day, it stops at six. I am limited to a wonderful interurban trail that is so dark as to be extremely dangerous for a woman alone, even on a street bike. I also know the fares on that bus were increased recently. It didn’t affect me — I have a monthly pass for the system with a higher fare and wider range — but I have never gotten on a bus in that system that was empty — even late at night…

Portland is known for its user-friendly and ubiquitous public transportation system. It’s one of the things that drew me to this city, and the convenient bus route was at least partly the reason I chose my current neighborhood. I know cuts are being made everywhere, but I’m surprised the transportation system is one of them. This will disrupt the lives of so many people who have no other realistic options.

Learn more and download the report

CONTACT: Cosabeth Bullock 202-478-6128, 202-904-7466 cbullock@mrss.com Download this release (pdf)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans across the country, in towns large and small, are being hurt by fare increases and draconian cuts in public transportation service, an epidemic that did not have to happen, according to a report released today by Transportation for America and the Transportation Equity Network.

The report, Stranded at the Station: The Impact of the Financial Crisis in Public Transportation, is the first systematic analysis of the conundrum faced by communities and their transit systems: Historic ridership and levels of demand for service, coupled with the worst funding crisis in decades. In a detailed examination of 25 transit systems, the authors found that while state and local transit revenues have been pummeled by a tough economy, the effects were compounded by failures in federal policy.

“The result,” said Dr. Sarah Mullins of the Transportation Equity Network, “is dramatic service cuts and fare increases that are hurting people who are trying to hang onto hard-to-find jobs and who can least afford the added financial strain.” Both rural and urban communities depend on public transit to sustain a viable workforce and encourage new development and commerce, Dr. Mullins noted. Service cuts and fare increases disproportionately harm older Americans and racial minorities, populations that account for nearly 48% of households without a vehicle.

Seven systems are facing operating deficits in excess of 10 percent, including those in Atlanta, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and Boston. To cope, agencies are lopping off routes, laying off workers and raising fares. Ten of the largest 25 transit agencies are raising fares by more than 13 percent, with San Francisco’s Muni contemplating a 33 percent hike, Boston’s MTA 20 percent, and DART in Dallas 17 percent.

“As employers and commuters everywhere know only too well, public transportation is an essential service that is critical to our economy,” said James Corless, director of Transportation for America. Noting that Congress had acted recently to provide an emergency infusion of general fund dollars into the highway trust fund, he added, “We need to see the same sense of urgency for the rest of the transportation system. But more than that, we need a long-term, sustainable source of funding for building, operating and maintaining the entire network.”

Recently, Representative Russ Carnahan attained more than 60 co-sponsors of his bill, H.R. 2746, which would allow public transit agencies greater flexibility in federal transit funding to be used for operating assistance, in addition to capital improvements. Corless urged Congress to support legislation to allow for greater flexibility in transportation spending, in addition to a serious overhaul of our current funding mechanism and a renewed vision for transportation.

“Mass transit has a residual benefit to any community,” said Congressman Carnahan. “Local transit agencies need options as they experience record-high ridership and record-high costs.  Transit not only connects neighborhoods; it also is part of any comprehensive plan to secure America’s energy independence and reduce global warming.”

Stranded at the Station examines the impacts of proposed fare increases and service reductions on low-income, “lifeline” transit users and higher-income “choice” riders who may be riding transit for the first time. Dr. Mullins noted that low-income, elderly and minority riders, especially, are losing service on routes where transit serves as their only access to schools, healthcare and jobs. Residents of small towns and rural communities in particular are increasingly stuck without transportation options as budget shortfalls force small local transit agencies to cut back on service in rural America.

“I think these transit cuts are a shame,” said Henrietta Woods, a member of Metropolitan Congregations United in St. Louis. “I am a senior citizen and a retired hospital employee. It’s hard for me to get to the grocery store now that they cut my bus.”

The upcoming transportation authorization is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create the safe, clean and smart transportation system necessary to move America forward. Congress is considering legislation that cuts red tape preventing local transit agencies from spending already existing public transportation funds on maintaining service and keeping fares affordable. Americans simply cannot afford to wait any longer for changes to our national transportation system that will save and create jobs and help us tackle long term economic, energy, climate and health challenges.

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ABOUT THE TRANSPORTATION EQUITY NETWORK

The Transportation Equity Network, a project of the Gamaliel Foundation, has more than 300 grassroots and national partner organizations from the environmental and economic justice, civil rights and land use reform fields.  TEN is working to ensure that transportation, metropolitan growth, and land use policy decisions produce equitable outcomes for all individuals. Disadvantaged populations have borne the brunt of the environmental and safety hazards from ill-considered transportation and land use policies.

Communities and their transit systems are stuck in a difficult quandary: they’re facing booming, historic ridership and levels of demand for service, while also facing the worst funding crisis in decades.

Stranded at the Station: The Impact of the Financial Crisis in Public Transportation is the first systematic analysis of the issue, and the story is not a pretty one. Nearly 90 percent of transit systems have had to raise fares or cut service in the past year and among the 25 largest transit operators, 10 agencies are raising fares more than 13 percent.

Many transit agencies across the country have cut service, raised fares or laid off workers to deal with shrinking budgets, severely affecting the people who depend on regular, reliable service in order to access jobs, social services and education everyday. Nationwide demand for public transportation is at historic levels and growing, but funding for the day-to-day operations of these transit services is built on an unstable foundation. This report shows that without federal support, many will likely will be unable to meet the demand now and in the future.

Download and read the full report at http://t4america.org/resources/stranded

Relatedly, we’ve updated the United States of Transit Cutbacks map to reflect the data in this new report, and the map now includes 21 case studies from the report, highlighting 21 of the many communities facing the most significant budget deficits and those with the highest fare increases for 2009. We’ll be continuing to track the issue and cuts across the nation with that map, so keep us posted if we don’t have your city on the map.

So we want to know: how have these drastic cuts in public transportation service affected your everyday life? Tell us your story and we’ll help share it with Congress.

Yesterday we noted transportation’s impact on health care costs, and how expanding access to public transportation and investing more money in complete streets safe for walking and biking can improve overall health and lower healthcare costs.

At the same time, we should remember that having transportation options and the ability to easily get where you need to go have a huge impact on whether or not you receive care. Folks who can’t get to the doctor or who must wait on rides from family and friends are more likely to stay sick.

A study of over 1,059 households in 12 western North Carolina counties tests the relationship between transportation options and healthcare utilization while adjusting for the effects of personal characteristics, health characteristics, and distance. The report found that people with reliable access to healthcare visited their doctor 2.29 times more frequently for serious illness and 1.92 times more frequently for regular checkups than those who did not.

The ability to reliably and affordably make it to doctor’s visits or healthcare appointments is also a matter of transportation equity. Minorities, households in rural areas, the disabled, and low-income Americans face even greater hurdles because many cannot drive and public transportation is often unavailable, inaccessible or unreliable. (Not to mention public transportation, paratransit or dial-a-ride programs being cut left and right)

We already know Americans are tired of being stuck in traffic and are clamoring for more options for getting around. But they are also demanding prevention as a top health care reform priority, and overwhelmingly support increasing funding for prevention programs to reduce disease and keep people healthy.

Meeting the health care needs of all Americans will require funding infrastructure projects that can create more opportunities for physical activity. The healthcare bill Congress is currently working on is just another opportuniy to demand that transportation options and access issues are more broadly included in the debate. It is not just the cost of care, but the ability to access that care that’s proven to reduce hospitalization rates for chronic conditions.