Passenger Transport Express - 04/10/2015 (Plain Text Version)

NEWS HEADLINES

Nationwide Stand Up 4 Transportation Effort a Huge Success

More than 350 public transportation agencies and businesses, municipalities, state public transit associations, grassroots advocacy groups and national organizations across the U.S. hosted public events April 9 as part of APTA's "Stand Up 4 Transportation" event. More than 100 mayors, governors, U.S. senators, members of the U.S. House, and federal, state and city DOTs nationwide asked their constituents to speak out about the importance of building and maintaining transportation infrastructure and the need for Congress to pass a long-term transportation authorization bill.

“I was thrilled to see that people from all walks of life, in Denver and throughout America, came together to tell Congress that federal funding for public transportation is essential and they need to pass a long-term transportation bill,” said APTA Chair Phillip Washington, general manager of Denver's Regional Transportation District. “This is a national movement and we are not going away. Congress needs to act now to pass long-term, sustainable transportation funding.”

“The message is loud and clear. Americans want Congress to make transportation funding a priority and pass a multi-year, well-funded transportation bill,” said APTA President & CEO Michael Melaniphy. "A long-term transportation bill is urgently needed to help our local and national economies grow and to provide crucial funding for public transportation infrastructure,” he added.

In conjunction with Stand Up 4 Transportation Day, APTA released an analysis April 9 in Washington, D.C., that shows how two proposals introduced in Congress to eliminate federal funding for public transportation would be disastrous for local communities and their economies. The analysis shows that proposals to cut federal funding for public transit would result, on average, in a 43 percent reduction in a community’s capital improvement funding. Overall, the loss of federal capital and operating funding would put at risk more than $227 billion in economic activity over six years. Read more here.

See the April 20 issue of Passenger Transport for articles and photos.

FTA Seeks Comment on Policy Guidance

FTA invites public comment through May 8 on interim policy guidance the agency is proposing for the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program. The proposed interim guidance was published in the Federal Register on April 8 and has been placed in the docket.

If adopted, this proposed interim policy guidance will complement FTA’s regulations that govern the CIG program by providing a deeper level of detail about the methods for applying the project justification and local financial commitment criteria for rating and evaluating New Starts, Small Starts and Core Capacity Improvement projects and the procedures for getting through the steps in the process required by law.

Submit comments on the guidance, DOT docket number FTA-2015-0007, here. For information, contact Elizabeth Day. [return to top]

SAVE THE DATE

Take Time for Technical Tours at Bus Conference

The Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T), host system for the APTA Bus & Paratransit Conference, has scheduled three technical tours for both Tuesday afternoon, May 5, and Wednesday afternoon, May 6. Please sign up on site to visit The T's Intermodal Transportation Center; tour the agency's headquarters, CNG fueling station and bus maintenance facility; or participate in a bike share tour of downtown Fort Worth. [return to top]

IN THE MEDIA

This video highlights the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada's Stand Up 4 Transportation efforts in Las Vegas. See other SU4T videos and photos here.

In honor of April Fool's Day, Calgary Transit offered an incentive to its passengers to give up their seats to older riders and pregnant women.

Governing magazine presents lessons that U.S. public transit agencies could learn from London. [return to top]