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Secretary Foxx questioned at Senate THUD Appropriations hearing

The Senate Transportation, Housing & Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee hosted Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, as well as USDOT Inspector General Calvin Scovel, on Wednesday, March 16 to discuss the department’s FY2017 budget request.

Here are some of the key highlights from the hearing:

Skepticism over a larger, new funding request

The administration’s budget would grow funding for the department to $98 billion in FY17, in part by raising new revenue through a new, $10.25-per-barrel oil fee. Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) opened the hearing with a note of disappointment and incredulity that the administration would submit such a sizable revenue proposal just months after Congress passed the five-year FAST Act and after many years of debate over transportation finance in which the administration declined to offer specific funding options.

Support for TIGER funding

Several members of the committee—including Chairman Collins (R-ME), Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI), and Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Christopher Coons (D-DE), and John Boozman (R-AR) voiced their support for the TIGER program and the projects it has funded. Sen. Boozman, however, had concerns about the department’s support for applicants and the way it helped strengthen the proposals in from applicants who were not awarded funds. Sec. Foxx spoke to the outreach the department is already doing and noted the success the program has had in funding projects in rural areas.

Support for Amtrak primarily in Northeast Corridor

There was support for Amtrak primarily from the two senators from the Northeast Corridor, Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Christopher Coons (D-DE). They each spoke of the importance of making capital improvements on that corridor. Sen. Reed also sought assurance that the Northeast Corridor Futures project would not realign Amtrak service out of his state.

Metro closure was the only transit topic of conversation

The only discussion of transit in the hearing focused on the emergency shutdown of Washington’s Metrorail system. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), chairman of the full Appropriations Committee, focused her questioning on ways that Congress or the department can further ensure Metro’s safety and improve reliability. Sec. Foxx placed the onus for additional improvement on the local jurisdictions—the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia—to make safety a priority for the agency. He also said the department is looking into ways that it can require open grants to the agency be used for safety purposes.

There was no discussion of Capital Grants (New Starts) or other transit funding.

USDOT want to support all Smart City Challenge applicants

Several members asked how the department is anticipating new technology, especially autonomous vehicles. Sec. Foxx spoke of the innovative ideas submitted through the Smart City Challenge grant program. Though the department will pick just one winner, Foxx said the department plans to advise all of the losing cities on ways they may be able to fund their visions through other, existing funding sources.

USDOT on the way to establishing the Innovative Finance Bureau

 In response to a question from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) about P3 financing for roads, Sec. Foxx said the department is well on the way to standing up the National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau, a consolidated office for innovative financing created under the FAST Act.

Timing going forward

 House Appropriations Chair Hal Rogers has announced that committee will begin consideration of the first of 12 appropriations bills next week and we expect the Senate to proceed on a similar schedule, debating bills through April following the Easter recess. The House will apparently start on these appropriations bills even through consideration of the budget resolution has been postponed two weeks until after the recess. (The budget resolution declares intended top-line spending amounts, while appropriations bills set specific, program-level outlays.)

May 31st transportation funding deadline looming over lawmakers

We’re only three weeks away from the expiration of MAP-21, the transportation law of the land, and Congress still does not have a solid plan for renewing or extending it — or for keeping the nation’s transportation fund solvent past the first days of summer.

Well, we’re here. Seems like just yesterday we were writing the news that Congress had finally passed a new transportation law. But that law, MAP-21, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, was only two years in length instead of the customary six, and it will expire at the end of the month after its first short-term extension concludes. Congress is no closer to agreeing on a multi-year replacement than they were when they kicked the can down the road last summer. To complicate matters, the temporary funding patch that Congress passed in 2014 to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent will run dry by mid-July, according to USDOT projections.

So far, Congress has not hatched a concrete plan to reauthorize MAP-21 and find a long-term stable funding source, but lawmakers do have some ideas.

In February, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced a bill that would nearly double the federal gas tax over the next three years to help fund a long-term transportation bill.

Last month, a bipartisan group of Representatives led by Reps. Renacci (R-OH) and Pascrell (D- NJ) introduced The Bridge to Sustainable Infrastructure Act, which seeks to raise the gas tax by indexing it to inflation by January 2016. The gas tax would then rise every three years unless Congress finds another funding source for the Highway Trust Fund, ultimately guaranteeing 10 years of funding for the transportation program. This bill is the only plan with any bipartisan support that proposes to raise user fees (i.e., the gas tax) in any way. It currently has 20 cosponsors: eight Republicans and 12 Democrats. 

Several lawmakers and the Obama Administration have proposed using a one-time repatriation of corporate profits as a source of funding. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced a bill that would encourage corporations holding profits overseas to return these profits to the US through voluntary “tax holiday” at a decreased tax rate of 6.5 percent. The Obama Administration’s plan would force companies to return their overseas money to the U.S. and pay a 14 percent tax rate on that money. Both repatriation proposals would transfer a portion of the earnings from the tax on returned corporate profits to the transportation trust fund.

Reps. John Delaney (D-MD) and Richard Hanna (R-NY) introduced a bill that would tax overseas profits by 8.75 percent, and would potentially raise $170 billion for the Highway Trust Fund.

What will happen before May 31?

Several lawmakers have sounded the alarm on finding a plan to reauthorize MAP-21 and keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent before the May 31st deadline passes.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called the short-term extensions that several lawmakers have proposed an “outrage,” saying that a long-term plan was necessary so transportation planners could be sure that they’d have the funding needed to move forward with long-term plans.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is rallying fellow Democrats in the Senate to block a Republican-backed trade deal until the Senate deals with funding the Highway Trust Fund (and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), meanwhile, also cited the need to address MAP-21, calling it a “must-do” item that needs to be completed by Memorial Day.

Over in the House, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) sent a memo to his fellow House Republicans that urged them to act to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent, which is set to go broke by midsummer. He said that any proposals to increase the gas tax, however, would be dead on arrival this Congress.

Next year’s budget

Whether Congress reauthorizes MAP-21 and extends the Highway Trust Fund will affect funding for next year’s budget for all transportation and housing programs. The House’s Transportation, Housing and Urban Development subcommittee released a transportation budget that proposes heavy cuts to TIGER, New Starts and Amtrak capital funding while holding steady funding levels for highways and other programs. The full House is expected to consider the Committee’s transportation appropriation bill upon return from a weeklong recess. The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to release their proposed fiscal year 2016 transportation budget. While slow on the uptick, we expect this Congress to be more active on transportation items over the coming summer months. Stay tuned.

A key policy change will help local communities give their residents better access to transportation jobs

For more than 40 years, federal policies have prevented local residents from benefiting from the well-paying jobs that come with federally funded transportation projects. The USDOT just made a move to change that with a new pilot program.

Los Angeles transit construction

Longstanding federal statutes have prevented the localities receiving federal transportation grants from giving any preference to bidders who hire local residents, leaving a city or region without a legal way to ensure that a project boosts local employment by hiring qualified residents to do the work.

In early March, the USDOT took an important first step to change that, however. The agency is launching a one-year pilot program called Local Hire ”to evaluate the use of these requirements and determine their impact.”

Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced that after a recent Department of Justice clarification of federal bidding statutes, the U.S. Department of Transportation would now allow local recipients to use contracting requirements, including local hiring, so long as those requirements do not unduly restrict competition.

“Under this program, recipients of highway and transit grants will be allowed to use hiring programs in which preference is given to local residents, low-income workers, and veterans,” wrote Foxx. The DOT is requesting comments on this proposed rule for the pilot program by April 6th.

Evaluating bids with hiring requirements is a typical practice in many places for projects funded with local or state dollars. But regulations governing federal dollars had prohibited the practice, citing concerns that it could undermine competition and drive up costs.

The advocates who have long argued that federal transportation spending needs to better benefit everyone called it a groundbreaking move.

“Research has shown that low-income workers and communities of color are vastly under-represented in jobs in the transportation sector,” wrote PolicyLink’s Anita Hairston. “This is a missed opportunity for connecting these communities to quality jobs, especially given the good wages and benefits that often accompany transportation work.”

Allowing a preference for hiring local workers is about giving states and local communities the power to ensure that qualified locals are first in line for jobs instead of seeing those jobs go to residents from elsewhere. This would help provide a one-two punch for economic development: good jobs for the local residents who most need them, and the long-term benefits of a new transportation investment.

This is a great step in the right direction, and we look forward to the results from the Local Hire pilot program.

You can send your comments to the USDOT by April 6 here.

Rep. Shuster and Sec. Foxx address the importance of local control in today’s Twitter town hall

The chairman of a key House transportation committee and the nation’s transportation secretary today held a “Twitter town hall”, and what rose to the top? Among other things, local access to the federal resources that too often fail to trickle down to them.

Shuster Foxx Twitter town hall 2

Rep. Bill Shuster (D-PA), chairman of the House Transportation and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx took tweeted questions (hashtag #StuckInTraffic) for about an hour after Fox appeared at a committee hearing on the next transportation bill.

Representative Rodney Davis (R-IL) kicked things off with a question that gets at the heart of the issue many have with the federal transportation program: How do we get more money in the hands of communities to address the local issues taxpayers care most about?

Admittedly, the question was somewhat rhetorical. Rep. Davis is a key champion — along with Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) – of the Innovation in Surface Transportation Act, , which would give local communities greater access to federal transportation funds to invest in their homegrown transportation plans and projects.

Without endorsing the bill per se, Chairman Shuster (R-PA) implied that he also wants to see local communities get access to the resources they need; from the money they pay into the federal program:

During the earlier hearing, Rep. Davis brought up the importance of local officials having control over decisions of their communities while asking questions of Secretary Foxx.

“I had a lot of input from my local officials, and they want more local control. They want a dedicated funding source for more local projects, so that they can work together with our federal officials. And with that more local control of transportation dollars is a top priority of mine. And in the new highway bill where do you see local communities to share in funding?”

The current federal program doesn’t always work for local communities. Local governments are too often at the mercy of decisions being by the state, made far from where they live. The Davis-Titus proposal would bring the federal program closer to the people by allowing local governments more decision-making power and greater access to resources.

Secretary Foxx noted that the overwhelming popularity of the TIGER program is another signal that the federal program should do more for these places.

I think this one of the reasons why having a strong, robust TIGER program continue is very important, because that has been an area where local communities have had the ability to reach for federal funding directly and get it. As you well know, local communities are becoming very creative when it comes to figuring out ways to get things done. We should continue to encourage that experimentation.

While states and local communities are “very creative when it comes to figuring out ways to get things done,” they shouldn’t have to be. Last year, applicants for TIGER requested 15 times the $600 million available for the program, or a total $9 billion for needed transportation projects.

Without passing legislation like the bipartisan Innovation in Surface Transportation Act, these problems are only just going to get worse. We’re hoping that Rep. Shuster and Sec. Foxx heard that message loud and clear today.

TODAY at 12 p.m. EST: Tweet your thoughts to Secretary Foxx and Chairman Shuster

As we inch closer to MAP-21’s expiration date and the insolvency of the nation’s transportation trust fund, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is partnering with Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) to host a Twitter “Town Hall” today at 12 p.m. EST to hear from the public on the issue.

You can participate by following along using the hashtag #StuckInTraffic and by following Secretary Anthony Foxx (@SecretaryFoxx), Rep. Shuster (@Transport), and Transportation for America (@T4America) on Twitter.

This is a great chance to pepper these two influential leaders with some smart questions on the future of the country’s transportation program. While Rome wasn’t built in a day, we know that hearing a few recurring themes for an hour today will definitely have an impact.

So help us fill their timelines with smart questions. While you certainly should ask anything you like, would you consider amplifying a consistent theme by tweeting some of these sample messages we’ve created?

Both of these leaders have made it clear they want a long-term transportation bill with stable funding, but the time is now to start talking about smarter policies for spending those dollars.. Stay tuned with us at @T4America to follow along today.

Mayors’ challenge: Help us meet critical transportation needs

Last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx issued a public challenge to mayors to “take significant action to improve safety for bicycle riders and pedestrians of all ages and abilities over the next year.” Mayors, in return, have a challenge of their own to the federal government: Don’t leave us in the lurch when it comes to the funding for those – and many other – transportation needs.

As Washington Post writer Niraj Chokshi noted the other day, transportation funding is the most urgent federal “ask” for cities such as Seattle and San Francisco that are facing both aging infrastructure and surging population. Both mayors were in D.C. for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, where federal transportation funding was a key theme.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray

In comments to the Post ahead of a White House meeting, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray framed the situation like this:

Post-World War II, with the suburbanization of America, the federal government stepped in big time and created an interstate system that supported the suburban lifestyle. As we urbanize as a country, we need the federal government to step in big time with transit for our urbanization.

Back home, Murray is one of those mayors who would be inclined to rise to Secretary Foxx’s challenge. But to do so, he is trying to find the resources to overcome the legacy of the last century, when federal dollars helped build high-traffic roads through the city with little provision for people to walk or bike safely. With more and more people living along those corridors, his city – like many others – is trying to squeeze more capacity out of them by making sure people can safely walk, bicycle and take transit.

The mayors said they don’t expect “pork-barrel” handouts. They are prepared to compete for grants based on need, smart planning and a willingness to marshal their own resources. That is one of the reasons why mayors of both small towns and larger cities have come forward to support a plan that would carve out a share of federal dollars in each state for such competitive grants.

As San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee put it:

We’re all focused on infrastructure. We think that that’s probably one of the best foundations for our economy, job creation, and we’re true believers in that.

Congress postpones insolvency, but uncertainty still plagues the Highway Trust Fund’s future

The last-minute patch to the Highway Trust Fund that Congress enacted on the way out the door last week delayed immediate insolvency, but it hardly ends the uncertainty for states or addresses our nation’s long-term prospects.

The House ultimately won the debate with the Senate over the length and funding source for the patch, using the controversial gimmick known as “pension smoothing” and temporarily postponing insolvency until next May. The Senate had passed a patch earlier in the week with enough money (but no pension smoothing) to carry the fund to the end of the year, which could have set the stage for a long-term solution in the lame-duck session.

“Congress is rapidly running out of last-minute budget gimmicks to patch holes in America’s key infrastructure fund, and must immediately begin the task of replacing pretend dollars with the real money necessary to continue to call ourselves a first-world nation,” said James Corless, T4America’s director, in our full statement released after final passage in the Senate. “In truth, they have bought themselves only a few short months to grapple with an issue they have delayed for years.”

Without this patch, the U.S. Department of Transportation was just days away from beginning to slash reimbursements to states for their current projects. However, with only ten months of full funding promised — if it stretches that far — some states are still shelving projects. Take, Tennessee, for example:

“Because of the uncertainty concerning the future of the Highway Trust Fund, the department took a conservative approach with the projects in this year’s three year transportation improvement program,” said Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Jennifer Flynn in a story yesterday about projects still being delayed there, despite last week’s action. “The most recent program included no new construction starts, and there were many projects throughout the state that did not move forward based on available funding.”

Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has been pushing Congress for a long-term funding solution almost since his tenure began as Secretary.

“The good news is that Congress has avoided bankrupting the Highway Trust Fund,” Secretary Foxx said in his news release following the vote. “The bad news is that there is still no long-term certainty, and this latest Band-Aid expires right as the next construction season begins.”

So what happens next? Assuming Congress punts on the issue during the lame-duck period, a lot could be determined by the political makeup of the next Congress May, as well as other big issues early in the next Congress, including raising the debt ceiling again.

Last week, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) found 28 fellow Republicans who would vote to defund the nation’s transportation system except for a small Interstate maintenance fund, and leave it to states to make up for the lost funding.

It would be a massive hole to fill for states and localities. Many already are struggling to raise additional revenue to make ends meet while Congress continues kicking the can down the road. Would they have the ability or political will to raise the equivalent of millions (or billions) in lost federal revenue? And what would happen to our country if the feds walked away from the national interest in our transportation system that spans multiple modes, state borders and moves goods and people across jurisdictional boundaries every day?

Other GOP members appeared to have grave doubts about such a strategy, and instead argued forcefully for shoring up the program for the long haul.

We believe most Americans would prefer to see our nation continue to make first-world levels of investment in our infrastructure – particularly if more of it comes to their communities to solve their local issues and address their priorities. That’s why we’re fighting for a long-term funding solution that gives local communities more resources and latitude, while ensuring that our bridges, roads and transit networks remain strong and safe across the nation.

Senate poised to take up House plan to patch Highway Trust Fund until Spring 2015

Sometime in the coming days the Senate is expected to take up and vote on the House’s bill to postpone the insolvency of the Highway Trust Fund until May of 2015 via an array of accounting maneuvers to cover ten months of transportation funding.

Last week, the House passed Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp’s bill transferring $10.9 billion to the trust fund from various sources, with a large portion coming from an accounting method called “pension smoothing.” This allows employers to defer payments to their employee pension plans; resulting in higher revenues for companies and therefore increasing overall federal tax revenue. It’s a controversial idea, lambasted by conservative political groups and the New York Times alike in advance of last week’s vote.

The Senate will likely be taking up the House’s version of the bill this week and voting on it, though several amendments could also be considered.

Finance Committee Chairman Wyden is expected to offer the alternative version approved by a bipartisan vote of the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month as an amendment. This would improve upon the House-passed bill by providing better revenue options, primarily tighter enforcement of tax laws and extension of certain fees.

Another amendment likely to be introduced by Senators Boxer (D-CA), Carper (D-DE), Corker (R-TN) would reduce the amount generated by some of the accounting maneuvers, essentially cutting the length of the patch and forcing Congress to act on a long-term funding solution before the end of the year.

This amendment would have the positive effect of keeping the pressure on lawmakers, as well as avoiding the potentially disastrous effects of pushing this debate to the months and weeks just before the 2015 construction season begins. (NPR took a look at this perpetual habit of “kicking the can” further down the road in a great piece earlier this week.)

While we commend Congress for reaching a short-term agreement to keep important projects from coming to a complete standstill, all this really accomplishes is postponing the inevitable insolvency for a later day. In the words of the letter sent to Congress this week by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and the last 11! USDOT Secretaries:

We are hopeful that Congress appears willing to avert the immediate crisis. But we want to be clear: This bill will not “fix” America’s transportation system. For that, we need a much larger and longer-term investment. On this, all twelve of us agree. Congress’ work will not be over with passage of this bill; they must continue moving forward and develop a long-term solution for our nation’s transportation funding.

We will continue to update as the Senate moves forward this week.

Part three: Crucial transportation projects could be halted if Congress fails to rescue transportation funding

Congressional inaction on saving the nation’s transportation fund would have tangible impacts on projects planned for next year and beyond, forcing many long-awaited projects to halt indefinitely as soon as this summer. Illinois’ six-year plan for transportation improvements could be threatened, and one long-awaited enormous project on the border with Iowa could be a casualty.

Our new report we released yesterday chronicles the tangible financial impacts that the expected insolvency of the nation’s transportation trust fund would have on state and local transportation budgets beginning in the upcoming fiscal year. No new projects with a significant federal share will be able to get underway in the new fiscal year, which begins this October, if Congress fails to act.

What would that really mean for projects around the country?

In Illinois, Governor Quinn recently announced a six-year transportation plan to complete dozens of key projects, including the Englewood Flyover freight and passenger rail project, bridge replacements along the Stevenson Expressway, repaving and repair on I-74 in Decatur and reconstruction of Rte. 2 in Rockford. But because the plan anticipates using $6.99 billion in federal funding to match $1.16 billion in state funding and $450 million in local funding, projects may not make it off the drawing board without the certainty of that federal contribution.

Just last week, in the Quad Cities on the border of Iowa and Illinois, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx visited the site of a bridge replacement and accompanying corridor improvement that could face significant delays if new work can’t be started next year.

Quad Cities I-74 Bridge

The I-74 bridges connecting Iowa and Illinois carry nearly half the traffic each day between the cities of this bi-state region where one of five workers crosses the river to go to work. The narrow, obsolete bridges date back to 1935 and were never designed to be part of an interstate highway system. This stretch of road sees more than three times as many crashes as comparable corridors and increased traffic on the bridge has created a critical bottleneck that also affects freight passing through the middle of the country on the national freight network.Replacing the I-74 bridges have been a top priority for regional leaders for the last two decades.

When Illinois and Iowa DOTs released a construction plan for coming years including more than $800 million programmed for the central bridge span, The Quad City Times editorialized that “The Quad-Cities’ biggest public construction project in history seems to suddenly move from planning to action.”

Yet collapsing federal funding would threaten that progress. Illinois’ improvements on adjoining streets have begun and Iowa is scheduled to begin construction next year. Beyond just next year, though, the long-term funding uncertainty created by the insolvent trust fund jeopardizes the progress of the entire corridor project,which will depend on reliable federal contributions.

Sec. Foxx with Bustos and Loebsack at I-74 bridge
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx tours the existing I-74 bridge site with Representatives Cheri Bustos (IL-17) and Dave Loebsack (IA-2) last week. Photo courtesy of Rep. Loebsack’s office.

We’ve heard many stories like this about the important projects that would come to a stop if Congress fails to rescue the nation’s transportation fund. But Congress must 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. It’s a great place to start.

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T4 brings mayors to Washington to tell Secretary Foxx about the importance of passenger rail

T4America brought together a group of mayors to visit with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx — a former mayor himself — and deliver a message about the importance of passenger rail to the economies of those local communities they represent.

Mayor Foxx and Mayor Marks

Mayor Marks of Tallahassee, Florida greets Sec. Foxx before a meeting at USDOT on 12/17/2013

There are few who better understand the importance of passenger rail as a transportation option and economic development tool than do mayors. That’s why we brought a bipartisan group of mayors from cities across the country to Washington, D.C. for a meeting with Sec. Foxx today.

Passenger rail service has been booming in this country, setting monthly and yearly records as surely as the pages of the calendar continue to turn. Not including the many commuter rail systems operating in the U.S., about 85,000 passengers ride on more than 300 Amtrak trains each day, with more than 31 million passengers taking a trip last year — an all-time ridership record for the nation’s passenger railroad.

The bill (PRIIA) that sets policy and authorizes funding for Amtrak expired on Sept. 30, 2013. Congress is overdue to write its replacement, and there’s a lot of discussion about what sort of reforms need to be made and how much funding to invest in our country’s passenger rail system.

From left, Mayor McFarlane of Raleigh, North Carolina; former Mayor John Robert Smith with T4America; Mayor Danny Jones of Charleston, West Virginia; and Mayor John Marks of Tallahassee, Florida in a meeting with Secretary Foxx on Dec. 17, 2013.

From left, Mayor McFarlane of Raleigh, North Carolina; former Mayor John Robert Smith with T4America; Mayor Danny Jones of Charleston, West Virginia; and Mayor John Marks of Tallahassee, Florida in the meeting with Secretary Foxx on Dec. 17, 2013.

Mayors like these know firsthand that passenger rail supports economic development in their cities and provides vital connections to other cities near and far, and that’s a message that needs to be heard at USDOT and in Congress right now.

Mayors in North Carolina’s Triangle region are raring to go with more improvements and added service for their existing passenger rail connections, and in fact, they’re already seeing the economic impacts.

Mayor Nancy McFarlane of Raleigh, North Carolina shared how a TIGER grant that helped her city start work on a station to connect Amtrak and local transit service under one roof has already reaped rewards. “400 jobs are there already, just from announcing the plans for the station,” she said. And next door in Durham, Mayor Bill Bell is on the same page, telling Sec. Foxx that “it’s no question that the demand is there — we just need the capacity.”

Charleston, West Virginia Mayor Danny Jones remembered how the trains were one of the few things moving after 9/11 for those days that air travel was shut down.

“The price we pay for Amtrak each year — that’s a small price for having a good substitute transportation system for this country. It’s there for us, and we need it,” he reminded everyone.

At the end of the historic Crescent Line in New Orleans, Louisiana, Deputy Mayor Grant provided a poignant reminder that during Hurricane Katrina, rail service was actually the only way out of the city at times.

Not too far east, Tallahassee, Florida was one of the handful of cities that lost their passenger rail service because of Katrina and has yet to see it return.

“I want to focus the conversation on economic development,” Mayor John Marks began. With 75,000 university students and staff between Florida State, Florida A&M and a sizable community college (as well as baby boomer retirees flocking to Tallahassee) all within a few miles of the train station that’s right off the main street, he said that moving people more efficiently has significant economic implications. Reconnecting that service through Tallahassee “is a significant tool for our economic development,” he said.

Saco, Maine is a small town where the city invested $2.5 million into the old train station downtown, which is in turn spurring the development of nearby abandoned mills into mixed use buildings. “We’re invested,”  said Mayor Donald Pilon. “And the investment is paying off. The train station is the draw for the developers.”

“This train drives southern Maine’s economy,” Mayor Pilon declared, while mentioning all the destinations connected to Saco by the five daily trains.

Our co-chair and former Mayor John Robert Smith is fond of telling the story of how he got involved firsthand years ago in Meridian, Mississippi when the passenger line that runs right through his town from Atlanta to New Orleans was on the chopping block. It wasn’t just the fact that a lot of his constituents depended on that passenger rail service as the only way they could visit relatives, see a doctor in a bigger city, or take a vacation. The downtown train station was also an important transportation hub and in the process of being transformed into a new center of economic activity for Meridian. And once that service was preserved, the restoration of the station helped usher in millions of dollars in economic impacts through new and renovated buildings in the downtown core.

From Mayor John Marks in Tallahassee, Florida all the way up to Mayor Donald Pilon in Saco, Maine, mayors know the importance of investing in reliable, on-time passenger rail connections.

Secretary Foxx, not far removed from his time as Mayor of Charlotte, N.C., told all the mayors that their work delivering this message here and back at the state level can carry greater weight for members of Congress than a message from him at USDOT. It’s got to come from the local level, he said.

He closed the meeting by letting the mayors know that USDOT wants to be in the business of helping them realize their visions.

Hopefully Congress will hear the message from these mayors and dozens of others loud and clear — and act on it as they begin work on passenger rail policy and funding for the next few years to come.

Secretary Foxx

Reaction to President Obama’s nomination of Mayor Anthony Foxx as U.S. DOT Secretary

Responding to President Obama’s nomination of Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Transportation for America Director James Corless issued this statement:

“Transportation for America congratulates Mayor Foxx on his nomination as transportation secretary. We are delighted to see a mayor of one of our up-and-coming economic centers selected to provide national leadership on implementing the provisions of MAP-21 and laying the groundwork for what we hope will be a rejuvenated national program. As a metropolitan region in the booming Sun Belt, Charlotte has become a leader in embracing transportation innovations and high-quality public transportation as key building blocks of a prosperous economy.

The long recession and related budget woes, along with the trend of flattening gas tax receipts, have left states and localities struggling to meet the needs of a growing and diversifying population. As the elected head of a major city, Mayor Foxx is more likely than most to understand the issues facing localities and states. We wish him success during the confirmation process.”