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Small transit agencies fight law restricting fed grant use

Opponents of the policy, which only allows federal transit dollars to be used for capital costs when the population threshold is met, will force some communities to reduce service by 15 to 30 percent.

December 6, 2011
1 min to read


LANCASTER, Pa. — Transit agencies in small- and medium-sized cities are lobbying federal lawmakers to change a quirk in the law that puts greater restrictions on how they can use federal grants if they grow too large, according to a Governing.com report.

Opponents of the policy — which states that federal transit dollars can no longer be used for operating costs, only capital costs, when an "urbanized area" grows past the 200,000 population threshold — say it’s an arbitrary cap, and those restrictions will force some communities to reduce service by 15 to 30 percent.

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