March 5, 2010

Fighting for the transit dollar

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By  Dan Reichard

• John Killian[ March 5th, 2010 @ 1:31pm ]

  
  
  
  
  The fight for the transit dollar often may be between the agency and the city or cities it serves. Applications for grants and funding for one may be diverse to the other. Cities are currently asking funding for streetcars and lines in metropolitan, recreation, and entertainment areas. Transit has an overall vision of the total system.
  A mutual application between the city and transit has the better chance of a grant, as will those that offer the most employment opportunities.
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Dan Johnson-Weinberger[ March 5th, 2010 @ 2:35pm ]

  That's the wrong way to think about it. Transit should want high speed rail and passenger rail to continue getting ever-more funding, because that's the natural coalition partner for transit. The transit-highway coalition where transit is the follower of highway interests is no longer the best model. But there is great overlap between passenger rail and commuter rail. I was at an event today with Congressman Oberstar and Congressman Lipinski (and Senator Durbin, Governor Quinn, Mayor Daley) touting the TIGER funding of the Englewood flyover rail-bridge that will untangle freight lines with a commuter-rail owned line, benefiting Amtrak service as well. Investment in passenger rail helps commuter rail directly, and helps transit as well (since there will be more riders). This also helps shift political support for non-driving modes. The ultimate solution we're trying to solve is the price of oil. Transit and rail will solve it while roads will exacerbate it. That long-term shift drives (so to speak) the best political coalition of transit and rail.

• Howard Bingham[ March 5th, 2010 @ 6:45pm ]

  Who is to say that funding for Amtrak takes away from transit systems nationwide, as over the years most big city transit agencies have had budgets many times that of Amtrak which is chartered to provide a "National" passenger rail network..
  
  I doubt anyone advocation Amtrak would want to stifle transit companies, but as I mention, most large city transit companies get the lion's share of the mass transit dollar, while Amtrak gets chump change, as U.S. DOT under Congressional directives has spent mst of the transit dollar for concrete runways at airports & to widen highways which have never paid for them selves (In such a way as for those who benefit from the expenditures recover at least a healthy portion of operating expenses from the fare box.
  
  Howard Bingham, a transit user & rail advocate

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