Taking a major step forward in federal transportation policy, US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced this week that the federal government would start taking factors like energy efficiency, economic development and reduced emissions into account when deciding which state and local transportation projects get federal funding.
This policy shift will make it easier for cities and states to get federal money for public transit projects, such as the streetcar and light-rail systems for which demand has grown in recent years.
Addressing thousands of engineers, academics and transportation officials at an annual transportation research conference this week, LaHood, remarked that
“Our old ways of doing business didn’t value environmental, community and economic benefits enough,”
according to a New York Times story.LaHood is a Republican and former Illinois congressman known for his support for transit and liveable cities and an ability to work effectively across party lines.
Previously, the overriding factors in awarding federal funding for transit projects were cost and time-in-transit savings. Those factors are still part of the decision-making process for funding through “New Starts,” the federal government's major transit grant program that distributes funds for transit projects, but no longer are they more important than things like congestion relief, energy efficiency, or emissions reductions.
Not only have the federal funding criteria for transit projects been in need of reform, but so is the timeframe for awarding federal money for transit projects. It takes an average of 10 years for transit projects to move through planning and design phases to receive a grant through the New Starts program. LaHood wants to shorten that timeframe significantly, as does Transportation & Infrastructure congressional committee chair Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN), who backs the proposed Surface Transportation Authorization Act now before Congress.
Further, according to Transportation for America, we as a country are not investing as we need to in a transportation system that will make us competitive in the global economy. Funding available for transit projects is nowhere near the demand. Only a small percentage of transit project applicants get any federal funding, and then, the federal government tends to match only about 50% of the local funding provided for the project. In contrast, the federal government matches about 80% of the local funding put up for highway projects, perpetuating an American car-based culture that is making us fat, sick and a big part of the world’s greenhouse gas problems.
If it is enacted, the proposed Surface Transportation Authorization Act could make some headway on reducing the disparity between transit and highway funding. In the proposed bill, transit would get about a 22% allotment of the $450 billion bill, inching up from the 18% share that the last major piece of transportation legislation, known as SAFETEA-LU, allotted for transit.
CTLCV supports smart transit and transportation policies for a competitive, sustainable Connecticut.
Sources:
- The Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009, "A Blueprint for Investment and Reform": http://transportation.house.gov/
- Transportation for America: http://t4america.org/blog/2010/01/13/feds-announce-change-to-consider-livability-in-funding-transit-projects/
- New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/us/14streetcar.html
- Streetsblog Capitol Hill: http://dc.streetsblog.org/2010/01/13/big-transit-news-bush-era-rule-tossed-enviro-benefits-on-the-table/ and http://dc.streetsblog.org/2009/06/18/oberstars-new-transportation-bill-get-the-highlights/
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