Transit Operating Costs
Why Transit Agencies Expand Even When They Struggle to Provide Service
New Orleans transit is in bad shape, as we reported recently. The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has never recovered from Hurricane Katrina and service is at about 36 percent of pre-storm levels despite the region's population rebound.
August 18, 2014
Lawmakers Push to Fund Transit Service During Economic Emergencies
In October, Reps. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Steve LaTourette (R-OH) introduced a bill to allow transit agencies to use federal money to hire bus drivers and pay other operating expenses.
December 19, 2011
Senate Banking Committee to Vote on Transit Section of Transpo Bill Friday
If the Banking Committee is going to make any progress on the transit section of the Senate transportation bill, it's going to have to happen before this weekend, when Congress leaves for the holiday recess and doesn't come back till late January. Indeed, on Friday, the very last day of the session, Banking is planning to vote on its part of the bill.
December 13, 2011
Carnahan and LaTourette Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Bolster Transit Service
It's a sign of the recession, but also symptomatic of a longstanding restriction on federal transit funding. In Lorain, Ohio and Albany, New York and other cities across the country, rows of brand new buses, paid for with stimulus money, have been laid up in garages.
October 13, 2011
Absent a Transportation Bill, DOT Can Innovate All On Its Own
As Deron Lovaas said this morning on NRDC’s Switchboard blog, “If recent events are any indicator, it might take Congress a while to agree on a policy that will put our underfunded, inefficient, oil-dependent transportation program on the right track.”
August 10, 2011
Good News From the Senate: Transit Operating Assistance and Much More
Today’s Senate Banking Committee hearing held some good news for transit riders. Unintuitive though it may be, Banking has jurisdiction over public transportation in the Senate. While in the House, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee handles every aspect of the reauthorization, in the Senate the bill gets carved up. Environment and Public Works is taking the lead, with the specifics on transit left to Banking. Luckily, there are some transit champions on Banking: Jack Reed (D-RI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) to name a few.
May 19, 2011
Why Transit Agencies Expand Capacity While They Cut Service
The past couple of years have been bittersweet for American transit riders. While the Obama administration's TIGER grant program and livability initiatives have spurred investments in new streetcar and bus projects, service cuts and fare hikes have been the order of the day in cities large and small, as transit agencies cope with shrinking revenues brought on by the recession. It can be frustrating for transit users to witness the construction of expensive new facilities while they’re paying more for less service.
October 21, 2010
AFL-CIO Flexing Its Muscle for Senate Transit Operating Aid Bill
The AFL-CIO, a formidable lobbying force in Washington, is throwing its weight behind a Senate bill offered last week that would authorize $2 billion in emergency funding for transit agencies forced to hike fares or cut service in lean budgetary times.
June 1, 2010
Eight Senate Dems Offer $2B Plan for Emergency Transit Operating Aid
Transit agencies forced to raise fares or cut service to close budget gaps would be eligible for $2 billion in emergency operating funds under legislation unveiled today by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) and seven other Democratic senators, including two members of the party's leadership.
May 25, 2010
Jackson Joins Transit Unions to Rally for More Federal Operating Aid
"CONGRE$$ PLEASE HELP."
April 27, 2010