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DART's Thomas: Federal Government 'Important Partner' with Public Transit; Proposed FTA Cuts Would Have Significant Impact

In testimony before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on April 5, Gary Thomas, president/executive director, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), said proposals to eliminate FTA’s Capital Investment Grant (CIG) and TIGER programs, among other cuts, “would have a significant impact on the ability of transit agencies to get people to work and put them to work.”

Thomas testified at a hearing before the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit on “FAST Act Implementation: State and Local Perspectives.”

“The federal government is an important partner in the surface transportation arena—­supporting public transportation, highway and commuter rail programs,” he said. “Given this long history of partnership, we at APTA were profoundly disappointed with the details of the Trump administration’s 2018 budget.” Thomas, a former APTA chair, noted that Congress has authorized the CIG program at $2.3 billion per year through 2020.

The ROI of Transit
“Public transportation is changing the way ­American communities grow. Equally important, we’re seeing a significant return on the public investment,” Thomas said, also recounting specific results at DART.

DART President/Executive Director Gary Thomas recently testified before the House T&I Committee’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, making the case for continued federal investment in public transit.
Photo courtesy of House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

“Transit-oriented development along DART rail lines has generated more than $7 billion in economic impact from new or planned construction. Moreover, in 2014 and 2015, this activity was responsible for more than 43,000 jobs resulting in nearly $3 billion in wages, salaries and benefits,” he said.

“Our congressional delegation knows the federal funds invested in DART will generate ­significant economic impact and a higher quality of life. We are pleased to enjoy consistent bipartisan support. That’s a key to our success,” he said, adding that local voters are also committed to supporting transit.

“We also believe we need to bring money to the table. Voters in our 13 cities decided to dedicate a portion of sales taxes to help fund transit in their communities. We use that to leverage federal dollars. The FAST Act and its predecessors are difference makers in North Texas,” he noted.

Thomas’ testimony also noted several other DART successes. “We have built 93 miles of electric light rail in just over 20 years because the federal government has invested in us in the form of three Full Funding Grant Agreements from the CIG program, the very program the ­president proposes eliminating. Our most recent one, awarded in 2006 for $700 million, supported construction of our light rail Green Line,” he said.

“Our work is far from done,” Thomas continued, including (among other projects) building a second light rail line partially funded by a Core Capacity Grant, which would be delayed because of the proposed cuts despite strong local investments.

“Our mobility challenges are difficult but can be solved,” Thomas noted. “People in communities everywhere are working on solutions that meet their unique needs. They have the vision and the desire, but need funding. We believe there is a role for local communities and the federal government to work together to support those visions with sustainable, substantial and predictable funding.”

Thomas and other panelists were welcomed by Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), subcommittee chair. “State departments of transportation, transit systems and local entities have the important task of delivering transportation projects to their communities,” Graves said in opening remarks. “As they carry out these projects, the witnesses have a firsthand view of how federal surface transportation policies are being implemented by the U.S. Department of Transportation.”

Find his testimony here.

For details about APTA’s previous statement on Trump’s budget proposal, see the most recent Legislative Alert.


Related News
DOT Secretary Elaine L. Chao told participants in a White House CEO town hall on April 4 that the administration was working on “a legislative package” related to infrastructure, which could be unveiled in late May rather than this fall.

Chao also said DOT has a budget of $70 billion and “money is not the problem.” She said DOT is emphasizing easing the permitting process to support deregulation and speeding up project timelines to help reduce risk to investors.

As the White House considers its infrastructure proposal, the need for increased infrastructure investment was further underscored this week when a slow-moving New Jersey Transit train derailed in a minor incident at New York City’s Pennsylvania Station, which handles more than 600,000 passengers daily for three railroads—NJ Transit, MTA Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak—among other transit providers.

Repairs to eight of the station’s 21 tracks continued to snarl rail travel in the New York City area and in the busy Northeast Corridor, prompting ­officials to renew calls for building a new tunnel underneath the Hudson River (the $23 billion Gateway project) and expand Penn Station.

“This is a project of national significance, not just local significance, and it simply cannot move forward without a federal commitment,” said John Porcari, interim executive director, Gateway ­Program Development Corp.

In addition, in the wake of the bombing in the St. Petersburg subway system that killed 14 people, a bipartisan group of 85 House members encouraged the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee not to cut funding for the Transit Security Grant Program as requested in Trump’s FY 2018 budget proposal.

Referring to subway systems, the letter stated, “An attack on any of these systems could kill thousands, flood rail tunnels and stations and cripple major metropolitan areas.”

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