With the one-year anniversary of the federal stimulus last week, policymakers and advocates have cited infrastructure-related job creation numbers in support of a transportation-heavy “jobs bill.”  Only 6% of the original stimulus ($46 billion out of $787 billion) went to transportation, while the $154B jobs bill passed by the House last December includes over $37 billion for transportation (including $27.5 billion for roads, $8.4 billion for transit, and $800 million for Amtrak), a higher share.

Seventeen Senators including Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) are calling for legislation with significant investment in transportation infrastructure as the best way to create and sustain jobs.

An infrastructure-focused jobs bill could also allow transit agencies to scale back service cuts and fare hikes like those planned in New York and New Jersey. The House version of the bill allows up to 10% of the federal transit funds in the bill to be used towards operating expenses. Research has shown that transit investment, especially in operations, creates more jobs than other types of infrastructure spending (see, for example, studies available here, here, here and here).

But the Senate and House approaches seem very far apart.  Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to pass a pared-down $15B jobs bill package which largely maintains the transportation status quo. It would plug a hole in the gas-tax-supported highway trust fund, expand the Build America Bonds financing program for large infrastructure projects and extend the existing transportation law, SAFETEA-LU, until the end of the year.

Senate leaders have suggested that they will seek to pass a second, infrastructure-focused jobs bill. But it remains uncertain how much help — if any — transit riders can expect from Congress.