Don't miss the Federal Transit Administration's workshop on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding at the APTA Legislative Conference, Wednesday 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

March 6, 2009

News Headlines

Obama, Biden Make Historic Joint Visit to DOT

President Obama and Vice President Biden together visited DOT Headquarters on Tuesday--the first-ever such simultaneous visit in history. "Of the 3.5 million jobs that will be created and saved over the next two years as a result of this recovery plan," President Obama said, "400,000 will be jobs rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges and schools, repairing our faulty levees and dams, connecting nearly every American to broadband, and upgrading the buses and trains that commuters take every day."

FTA Recovery Act Apportionments Guidelines Now in Federal Register

The Federal Transit Administration has posted its apportionments guidelines for recovery funds in the Federal Register (Docket no: FTA-2008-0009). It provides final funding levels for the ARRA money distributed by formula, includes broad pre-award authority, lays out the reporting requirements and aspects of grant applications unique to ARRA, and provides an extensive Q&A section to assist FTA grantees. A state-by-state list showing FTA apportionments is also listed on the agency's web site.

Omnibus Appropriations Bill Vote Postponed in Senate

The FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill is expected to pass the Senate next week. Senate Democrats reportedly want to ensure they have the 60 votes required to file for cloture, to prevent a Republican filibuster of the bill. In the meantime, stopgap legislation filed on Friday will keep the government operating after the March 6 expiration of the previous year's continuing resolution.

OMB Proposed Contract Funding Scoring Change in FY 2010 Budget Causes Concern

A proposal to reclassify contract authority funding as discretionary funding has raised concern among many stakeholders, including the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and APTA.

Biden, LaHood Visit Miami Intermodal Center

In a visit to the Miami Intermodal Center under construction, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood formally announced the $8.4 billion made available to public transit via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. "Investments in public transportation put people to work, but they also get people to work in a way that moves us towards our long term goals of energy security and a better quality of life," said Secretary LaHood. He cited APTA's finding that every $1 billion in federal investment in public transit supports 30,000 jobs.

In the Media

In these economic hard times, a moment of levity can raise the spirits. This TV commercial set in the London's Liverpool Street Subway provides a few minutes of public transit-related amusement.

A group of young professionals in Omaha is having a contest to see who can log the most miles on the city buses.

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