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Planet D.C.: Rising Gas Prices + Rising Transit Ridership = Cutting Transit Funding

The Republican fiscal year 2012 budget would mean the loss of over a billion dollars in transportation funding for the region, and tens of thousands of jobs lost, according to an analysis by Congressional Democrats and the Federal Highway Administration.

Congress returned to work this week just in time for a new round of political football over soaring gas prices, which have topped over $4/gallon in our region.  Two weeks earlier, President Obama ordered a  Department of Justice task force to “make sure that no one is taking advantage of the American people for their own short-term gain” by investigating the role of traders and speculators in oil markets.  The House majority is laying the ground work to move two bills that will expand domestic oil and gas production while Senate majority leaders are planning to introduce a bill to repeal tax subsidies to oil companies.

As the President, the House and Senate majority leaders scramble to address rising gas prices, Americans are doing what they did when national gas prices rose to over $4/gallon  in 2008: they’re driving less, buying smaller cars, and turning to transit.  Type in “transit ridership” in Google News and one will see reports of upticks in transit ridership across the country, from large cities to small towns (Pierce County, WA; Lake Tahoe, CA; Palm Beach, FL; Luzerne County, PA; Nashville, TN; Montrose, CO; Valparaiso, IN to name just a few).

Unfortunately for those turning to public transportation for a reprieve, they’re most likely experiencing a system that has been cut to the bone in the past 18 months as lawmakers in D.C. stood by.  Not only did the 111th Congress fail to pass the Public Transportation Preservation Act of 2010, which would have provided emergency federal funds to restore and maintain transit service across the country, the 112th Congress has recently slashed transit funding as a way to curb federal spending.  More could be on the way. The House Budget Committee recently passed Congressman Paul Ryan’s proposal for fiscal year 2012 that would slash federal transportation spending by 30%, bringing it from $50B/year to about $35B/year.  According to an analysis conducted by House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee minority staff, the tri-state region would lose over $1 billion in federal transportation dollars and 38,515 jobs.

Only in planet D.C. can one be outraged about rising gas prices,  non-responsive on rising transit ridership numbers and wholly committed to reducing federal investments in energy efficient modes of transportation like transit.

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[…] Congress Way Better at Slashing Transit Funds Than Lowering Gas Prices (MTR) […]

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[…] Congress Way Better at Slashing Transit Funds Than Lowering Gas Prices (MTR) […]

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[…] Congress Way Better at Slashing Transit Funds Than Lowering Gas Prices (MTR) […]

DebtFree2020
DebtFree2020
12 years ago

What Congress reduced in its FY11 budget actions was the New Starts program for new rail and bus rapid transit lines. The New Starts program is not in the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund. Rather, the program receives its funds from General Revenues. Thus, New Starts funds are borrowed monies, adding to the national debt. Simply stated, Congress should not borrow monies for new rail and bus rapid transit projects. As a solution, Congress could increase the federal gas tax to fund capital grant programs. But, since the rail and bus projects are regional and local ones, state and local governments should fully fund these projects.

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[…] for affordable transportation options is not just an urban phenomenon on the left coasts.  As previously reported in MTR, rising gas prices has lead to spikes in transit ridership in rural, suburban, small towns […]

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[…] Let’s hope federal, state and local elected officials remember this when Congress debates the size and substance of the federal transportation bill in the coming weeks and when Albany grapples with looming MTA […]

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