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Passenger Transport recently had the opportunity to pose several questions to DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx regarding the state of public transportation. He commented on a wide range of topics, from MAP-21 to bipartisanship, high-speed rail, his priorities, and what’s ahead for public transportation.
PT: As the deadline approaches for the expiration of MAP-21, can you please share your thoughts for how we develop a multi-year, multimodal transportation funding bill? What are the opportunities, and what are the challenges?
Sec. Foxx: We’ve made a lot of progress with MAP-21. It provided states and communities two years of steady funding and the certainty needed to invest in critical road, bridge, and transit projects. But as you note, the expiration of MAP-21 is  approaching quickly, and there is no doubt that we need a long-term, sustainable transportation bill. Throughout my confirmation process and my first few months as secretary, I have been encouraged to hear both Republicans and Democrats speak about the need for transportation investment. President Obama said that transportation funding could play a large part in reaching a bipartisan budget agreement. The fact that transportation infrastructure still attracts bipartisan support is a key opportunity.
The biggest challenge, of course, is determining how to pay for it. We need Congress to pass a bill that supports the President’s efforts to continue addressing our short- and long-term infrastructure needs. President Obama has shared his ideas on investing in the infrastructure we need to move our nation forward. His proposed budget for FY2014, for example, includes $9 billion for immediate transportation investments that would, among other things, address serious state-of-good-repair needs to modernize public transit in urban, suburban, and rural communities alike. We’re starting to hear recommendations from Congress, too. Transitioning from a monologue to a dialogue is not easy, but we stand ready to work with Congress to get this done.
I’d also like to mention two additional opportunities related to the overall funding challenge—the opportunity to increase efficiency both within DOT and across the country and the opportunity to help connect more people to the 21st century economy. Transportation plays a key role in strengthening regional economies, whether by moving goods or helping people get to work and school on time, and I have made it a priority at DOT to ensure that more Americans have access to what the President calls “ladders of opportunity.”
At the same time, particularly given today’s fiscal environment, we are working hard to stretch every dollar as far as possible by using new technologies and approaches that deliver projects even faster and under budget.
PT: Any thoughts on developing bipartisan support for the next transportation funding bill?
Foxx: America is hungry for transportation investment. In my meetings with members of Congress and in my travels across the country, everyone I’ve spoken with agrees that we need to invest in transportation.
This is particularly true at the local level, when people see transportation investment less as an abstract policy and more as the physical bus line, bridge, or commuter rail that will actually help their neighbors get where they need to go. There’s a lot of room for agreement when you start there, and I hope that keeping that in mind will help everyone as we tackle the larger questions in Washington.
PT: You’ve been clear in your goal to make sequestration as painless as possible for DOT, while acknowledging that there probably will be difficult choices ahead. What are the consequences of sequestration on the department and how are they likely to affect the public transportation industry—both public transit agencies and the private sector?
Foxx: Sequestration is not a good way to run the government, and it’s certainly not the way anyone would run a business.
For example, as a result of sequestration cuts, coupled with FY2013 budget cuts, FTA was unable to make new funding commitments for capital transit infrastructure projects under the Capital Investment Grant Program (known as New Starts) for the first time in roughly 20 years. Under sequestration, this program sustained a nearly $100 million cut. Consequently, FTA has been required to slow down payments, which may require cities to borrow funds to cover short-term shortfalls, costing communities more in the long-run to build and expand the transit services that millions of riders depend on.
I am hopeful that Congress will review the impacts we faced under sequestration and the government shutdown this year and act to avoid a worse situation in 2014. Nonetheless, we must live within the budget that Congress provides for FY2014, and we are assessing available options to minimize the effects. Should we be forced to implement another round of budget cuts, however, the effects will be felt across the Department.
PT: One of President Obama’s most prominent—and controversial—transportation-related priorities is high-speed rail. How do you respond to the critics? What are the next steps to moving America closer to high-speed rail?
Foxx: We need a 21st century rail system to keep our economy growing over the long-term. Our highways and airports today are stretched to their limits; the challenge ahead of us is to safely, reliably, and efficiently move more than 100 million additional people in just the next few decades. Our investments are having a major impact. They’re at work now improving 6,000 rail corridor miles—raising speeds, reducing trip times, and adding service in five rapidly growing regions.
We must remember that major transportation challenges aren’t met overnight. We achieved our goal of building the world’s best highway system because we backed the effort with sustained funding to keep us focused through 28 sessions of Congress and 10 administrations. We will achieve our goal for rail by backing it with a dedicated funding source we’ve provided to our highways and other forms of transportation, which is exactly what the President has proposed to do in his 2014 budget.
PT: You’ve been a very visible proponent of public transportation in your home city of Charlotte. How will those experiences translate to the national level? What lessons in pragmatic policymaking can you bring to the often fractured discussions in Washington, DC?
Foxx: Two key lessons come to mind: strengthening bipartisanship and improving efficiency.
First, when it comes to transportation, everything we do has a local impact and requires local cooperation. As mayor of Charlotte, I worked with Republicans and Democrats, businesses, and government to address the challenges facing our city. Time after time, we put aside our differences to do what was right for our constituents. I’ve brought that lesson to Washington, where I hope we can build on the bipartisan belief that more infrastructure investment is needed.
Second, as mayor I experienced first-hand the successes but also the challenges and frustrations that go along with obtaining and coordinating federal funding of local transportation priorities. I am committed to cutting red tape, eliminating waste, and streamlining our policies and procedures every step of the way.
Earlier in his administration, President Obama called on all departments to find ways to operate more efficiently and save taxpayers money. DOT has undertaken many improvements in this area. For example, in January 2012, about nine months prior to the enactment of MAP-21, FTA pursued a number of common-sense changes to its capital grant programs that will help local project sponsors potentially shave six months or more off the time that is now required to move major projects through the New Starts pipeline. The changes are estimated to save project sponsors almost $500,000 annually by requiring less time-consuming paperwork and to achieve other time savings as well.
I intend to build on our track record of achievement in the months ahead. We are continually looking for new and better ways to deliver value to the American people.
PT: You replaced Ray LaHood, who has been widely applauded as one of the most effective secretaries of transportation in recent memory. Can you share a few thoughts about his legacy, and your plans for setting new priorities for the department?
Foxx: Secretary LaHood embraced the notion that businesses, the public, and all levels of government must work together to find pragmatic solutions for transportation challenges we face—while not using a one-size-fits-all approach.
It’s this bipartisan, pragmatic approach that made him so effective at the Department of Transportation and a model I’m proud to embrace. The work he did to raise awareness on distracted driving will also be a key part of his legacy. Secretary LaHood really moved the needle on the issue, and I hope to carry on that work.
My focus as secretary is in three areas. The first is ensuring that our transportation is the safest in the world.
I also plan to focus on improving the efficiency and performance of our existing transportation system. Cutting-edge transportation leaders across the country are finding new ways to boost productivity through better use of technology, data, economic analysis, and private-sector innovation, such as public-private partnerships, to bring more private-sector capital and innovation into the infrastructure marketplace.
Finally, we must build this country’s infrastructure to meet the needs of the next generation of Americans. The federal government has a responsibility to help ensure our global competitiveness by investing in a robust, multimodal transportation system, a stronger national freight network, and key innovations like Next Gen and advanced roadway, bus, and rail technology.
PT: Looking down the road a few years, what are your thoughts for fully investing in America’s public transportation infrastructure? What role will emerging public-private partnerships play? How can the federal government partner with states, and even cities? What other opportunities do you foresee?
Foxx: With new investments and innovation in public transit infrastructure, we can continue to do as generations before us have done: Move faster, safer, smarter and in a way that helps our economy grow. The challenge is to find innovative ways to finance the infrastructure we need to keep this nation competitive. The private sector has an important role to play, and public-private partnerships are an excellent foundation on which to build.
Denver, for example, has done a great job leveraging a consortium of private companies to help design, build, and maintain an ambitious 70 miles of new commuter and light rail service for the region, including a substantial investment from the federal government. I will actively encourage the private sector to partner with state and local governments on a range of innovative transportation-related projects.
Across all five rounds of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, DOT provided more than $3.6 billion to 270 projects in all 50 states. That is just a drop in the bucket compared to the demand that’s out there. In our most recent round of funding, we received 585 applications requesting more than $9 billion. That’s 18 times the amount we had available. This tells me—and I know from my experience as mayor—that every state and community has a to-do list. The projects we’re supporting at DOT represent the kind of work we should be doing more of across the country.
It is also important to remember that public transportation is not just for major metropolitan areas. Last September, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority in rural Colorado opened for service the nation’s first rural bus rapid transit system. Early reports are that the transit agency is experiencing a nearly 30 percent increase in ridership over last year—and hundreds of middle- and low-income workers now have an affordable alternative to commuting 70 miles a day in their cars.
We have seen the value transit delivers to many communities, from Kent, Ohio, to El Paso, Texas, but we can only accomplish so much with limited and constrained federal resources. As I’ve said before, we need a real dialogue about the future of transportation in the United States, which is a major economic driver for this generation, and generations to come. |
