More Transit Cuts Coming, Unless Public Transportation Preservation Act Intervenes

– By Michael Wysolmerski, Summer Intern from Yale, 
michael.wysolmerski@ctlcv.org

Just last week, the New York Daily News reported that the MTA has cut the Metro-North 1:34 p.m. express from Grand Central to New Haven, the 2:33 express from New Haven, and the 1:15 a.m. train from Grand Central to Stamford—even though Connecticut, according to a Hartford Courant article, will pay $200,000 to avoid further Metro-North cuts in the state.

The federal Public Transportation Preservation Act (S 3412/HR 5418) could come to the rescue. The bill, which was introduced by Senators Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Frank Lautenberg, Robert Menendez, and Chris Dodd, would provide $2 billion in federal aid to transit agencies across the country that are cutting service and raising fares.

The Public Transportation Preservation Act, according to a press release on Senator Schumer’s (D-NY) website, would provide approximately $345 million for the NYC-NJ-CT urbanized area, which includes southwestern Connecticut, and prevent cuts and higher prices on the Metro North Railroad. More specifically for Connecticut, according to calculations done by Michelle Ernst, TSTC’s staff-analyst, the Connecticut Department of Transportation stands to receive approximately $36 million, while other Connecticut transportation agencies would receive around $2 million, bringing the total funding to the state to around $37 or $38 million.

According to TSTC, the money from the bill could only be put towards transit operations. No capital construction projects could receive funding.

Not only would the bill help preserve public transportation systems, but it would create approximately 72,000 high quality green jobs, according to figures from the American Public Transportation Association.

The bill is rapidly gaining momentum in the Senate, as it now has 11 co-sponsors, yet there are currently only two co-sponsors in the House. According to the TSTC, New York advocates of the bill are urging their representatives to co-sponsor the bill in the House.

Transportation for America urges voters to “keep flooding our senators with letters and calls,” and released an action alert that calls for senators to cosponsor the bill.

Click here to tell your senators to support emergency transit funding and keep America's transit systems running.