Both agencies and the supply side need to engage FTA officials and members of Congress to address ... upcoming bus-related issues.

Monterey-Salinas Transit contracted Argentinian artist Pablo Lobato — who also designs for the Monterey Jazz Festival — to design bus wraps for its new BRT line.

With impacts including a shrinking number of vehicles and less road congestion currently being ignored when the financial feasibility of projects is being studied, a new economic value added model must be used to illustrate the total realizable benefits that can be obtained.

Federal officials look at new rules to make streetcars more eligible — but overall funding may be cut in budget battles.

The easing of the fiscal crisis has produced a situation where many deferred or stretched-out projects are now scheduled for service openings in the next two years.

One option to help keep costs down is replacing older vehicles through an accelerated vehicle acquisition plan that uses municipal leases. With tight credit markets and limited access to capital markets, this is an efficient, less costly option.

Many policy makers are looking to various proposals to involve private capital to close the growing gap between the available tax revenues — especially at the federal level, but also, state and local taxes dedicated to transit — and what is needed, especially to maintain rail and bus systems adequately.

Cliff Henke, a contributing editor to METRO, is senior analyst at PB. His views herein are solely his own.

While on the face of it the proposal sounds like a great idea, the changes miss the real solution to building the U.S. transit supply side and could worsen American companies' ability to compete overseas.

The Washington, D.C. "summit" organized by the Community Streetcar Coalition this past March reflected the interest of federal policy-makers as well as local officials and industry leaders in taking urban transportation in a new direction.