Four senior Congressional transportation staffers offered an inside view of public transportation-related issues at the federal level before an overflow crowd at the “View from Capitol Hill” session during the APTA Annual Meeting and EXPO in New Orleans.

Representing the Highways and Transit Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee were Jim Tymon, Republican staff director, and Jim Kolb, Democratic staff director. From the Senate side were Homer Carlisle, majority professional staff member with the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Shannon Hines, minority senior professional staff member for the same committee. J. Barry Barker, executive director, Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, KY, moderated a lively conversation.

Barker kicked off the session by telling the crowd: “We must turn our potential into kinetic energy and work with the elected officials.”

Carlisle, who works with Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Johnson (D-SD), emphasized that Johnson is a strong supporter of public transportation in many forms, including rural and tribal operations. The senator, he added, also recognizes the vital need for public transportation investment in urban areas.

“Will we rise to the challenge? Sen. Johnson wants to pass a strong, multi-year [surface transportation authorization] bill,” Carlisle said. He continued: “A two-year bill doesn’t do enough and we need to double or triple spending [levels] to get public transit to a state of good repair.”

Hines works with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), ranking member of the banking committee. She admitted that there has not been much movement on the Hill with respect to a long-term authorization bill but added: “Sen. Shelby is adamant that a two-year bill is not the answer.” She said the senator is “drafting a bill with hopes for a full bill and not a two-year extension … [but] Right now though, everyone continues to wait on pins and needles for the report of the [12-member] Super Committee [considering deficit reduction issues].”

Tymon spoke on behalf of both Rep. John Mica (R-FL), chair of the full T&I Committee, and Subcommittee Chair John Duncan Jr. (R-TN). He called Mica “one of the biggest Republican advocates of transit,” and told the audience, “you are in a good place with him there.” According to Tymon, Mica is working to craft a fair bill but must take into account remaining deficit neutral and not increasing taxes.

“Transit is an easy cut for [House] freshmen because they often don’t hail from cities,” Tymon told the audience. “Bring them out and show them what you do.”

He also said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and others in the House want to re-evaluate and make a robust transit bill reflecting near-current funding levels, but that this effort will require reconciling the position with the rest of Congress.

Kolb, representing both T&I Ranking Member Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR), focused on the shift away from bipartisanship, saying that elected officials have reached a point where “compromise is a bad word and everything is driven by crisis.” He stressed that “we need to have an honest discussion of where we go since the Senate two-year bill is the current high-water mark.”

Speaking to the need of public transit advocates to  be involved in outreach, Kolb said: “Transit is number six on everyone’s top five issues list in Congress. They care, but end up focused on other issues.”

While the opinions differed among the four panelists, they all agreed that Congress must pass a long-term surface transportation authorization bill and that transportation advocates must be active in demonstrating to their members of Congress what they need and how the transportation bill will affect them, the communities they serve, and the businesses that supply them.

Panelists in the “View from the Hill” session, from left: Jim Kolb, Jim Tymon, Shannon Hines, Homer Carlisle, and moderator J. Barry Barker.