TESTIMONY OF THE
AMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION,
TREASURY & INDEPENDENT AGENCIES
*******
March 19, 2004
SUBMITTED BY
American Public Transportation Association
1666 K Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 496-4800
APTA is a nonprofit international association of over 1,500 public and private member organizations including transit systems and commuter rail operators; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services and products. Over ninety percent of persons using public transportation in the United States and Canada are served by APTA members.
INTRODUCTION
Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, on behalf of
the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), thank you for the opportunity
to provide written testimony on the need for investment in Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) programs under the Transportation, Treasury and Independent
Agencies Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2005.
ABOUT APTA
APTA’s 1,500 public and private member organizations serve
the public by providing safe, efficient, and economical public transportation
service, and by working to ensure that those services and products support
national economic, energy, environmental, and community goals.
APTA member organizations include public transit systems
and commuter railroads; design, construction and finance firms; product and
service providers; academic institutions; and state associations and departments
of transportation. More than ninety percent of the people who use public transportation
in the United States and Canada are served by APTA member systems.
OVERVIEW
Mr. Chairman, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 Transportation, Treasury
and Independent Agencies Appropriations bill provides an opportunity to advance
key national goals through increased federal investment in the nation’s surface
transportation infrastructure, including public transportation. A study conducted
by Wirthlin Worldwide in February 2004, found that most Americans (80 percent)
see quality of life benefits from increased investment in public transportation,
and 76 percent of those surveyed support public funding for the expansion
and improvement of public transportation. Clearly, Americans support federal
policies that create good, high-paying jobs, especially U.S. jobs that cannot
be exported. Investment in our national public transportation and highway
systems creates jobs – 47,500 per $1 billion of federal investment. This investment
does more than create jobs, it helps improve the economy by reducing congestion,
promoting energy conservation, and providing transportation options to workers
and tens of millions of other Americans.
As a nation, we need to maintain and improve the transportation
system that has served this country so well. Congress has made a substantial
investment in public transit systems around the country, and those systems
serve tens of millions of customers each day; but much needs to be done to
maintain and increase the return on that investment. With ridership at record
levels, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
(AASHTO) estimates that an annual capital investment of more than $44 billion
is needed to adequately maintain, improve and expand public transportation
across America.
Demand for surface transportation options -- including modern,
safe, and efficient public transportation service -- is at an all-time high.
New transit service is being added in areas around the country, including
Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Charlotte. More and more communities are
voting for new and expanded transit service every year. Demand for transit
options is a product of growing frustration with increased congestion that
negatively affects our quality of life by wasting time and money, and a desire
for mobility options. The Wirthlin Worldwide poll also demonstrates that voters
support public transportation regardless of whether they live in urban, suburban,
small urban or rural communities, and that they are more likely to vote for
Congressional candidates who support such investment.
Similarly, as the population ages, older Americans will need
more and better transit service. As driving becomes less of an option for
many older Americans, they as well as persons with disabilities are seeking
good public transportation options so that they can continue to fully participate
in society. Yet many older Americans and people with disabilities live in
areas where public transportation services are limited or non-existent, despite
the fact that access to good transit service can mean the difference between
living independently and moving into assisted living. Nearly two-thirds of
residents in urban, small urban and rural communities have few if any transportation
options – 41 percent have no access to transit, another 25 percent live in
areas with below-average transit services. Clearly, our nation’s small-town
and rural areas have real and growing transportation needs.
FISCAL YEAR 2005 TRANSIT INVESTMENT
APTA believes it is crucial to provide significant investment
in the nation’s transit and highway infrastructure in the FY 2005 appropriations
process. That investment advances key national goals by producing jobs, providing
more mobility options to all Americans, improving the environment and reducing
dependence on foreign oil, and by providing a solid return on the investment.
APTA’s recommendations for reauthorization of the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) propose to grow the transit
federal transit program to $14 billion by FY 2009. The Senate has passed a
TEA 21 reauthorization bill that would provide $8.65 billion for transit in
FY 2005, and we urge the Subcommittee to invest no less than that amount for
the federal transit program in FY 2005.
Public Transportation INVESTMENT Creates Jobs AND GROWS
the ECONOMY
Americans are growing increasingly concerned about jobs.
In February 2004, only 21,000 net new jobs were created nationwide, and 24,000
were lost in the construction sector alone. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll taken
March 5-7 showed that 65% of Americans view economic conditions as the most
important factor on which they will vote. A CBS News poll taken February 24-27
shows that the economy and jobs are the most important issues that 25 percent
of voters want to hear about in the upcoming election, the largest percentage
for any issue and nearly twice the number for the war on terrorism or health
and education. Polls by Newsweek and Harris this year have produced similar
results. Jobs are the number one concern of Americans.
Policy makers know that increased investment in our nation’s
transit and highway transportation infrastructure will help the economy and
will produce jobs. The Department of Transportation has demonstrated that
for every $1 billion in federal highway and transit investment, 47,500 jobs
are created or sustained. This view is shared by Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK), who stated upon passage of SAFETEA
that the bill "will create nearly 2.8 million job opportunities for the
American people." He went on to call TEA 21 reauthorization the "biggest
job creation bill of this Congress."
The jobs that investment in public transportation can
create are high-paying, stable, and cannot be exported. The jobs created are
not just those needed to operate new and expanded transit service, which are
significant; but also in the private manufacturing sector, which supports
and supplies the public transportation industry. For instance, transit buses
are built in, among other places, Wichita, Kansas; Brownsville, Texas; Lamar,
Colorado; St. Cloud, Minnesota; Hayward, California; Anniston, Alabama; Imlay
City, Michigan; Pembina, North Dakota; and Oriskany, New York. Engines for
those buses may be built in Detroit or Columbus, Indiana. Spending on transit
also benefits hundreds of other private sector companies around the United
States that build rail cars, fareboxes, vehicle parts and equipment or provide
software, engineering, and construction services for the transit industry.
According to a Cambridge Systematics Inc. study, for every 10 dollars spent
on transit capital projects, 30 dollars in business sales is generated. Every
10 dollars invested in transit operations results in 32 dollars in private
business sales.
Mr. Chairman, public transportation serves another important
economic purpose: alleviating highway congestion. According to the Texas Transportation
Institute’s "2003 Urban Mobility Report", congestion costs $69.5
billion annually – more than 3.6 billion hours of delay and 5.7 billion gallons
of excess fuel consumed. The report says without public transportation, there
would be 1 billion more hours (30 percent) more delay. The average driver
is losing more than a week and a half of work (62 hours) each year sitting
in gridlock. The average cost of congestion per peak road traveler is $1,160
a year. All of that congestion holds up more than 64 percent of the nation’s
freight that moves by truck on highways, which represents annual value to
the economy of more than $5 trillion. As the Free Congress Foundation’s Paul
Weyrich and Bill Lind demonstrate in their study, "How Transit Benefits
People Who Do Not Ride It", public transportation, by alleviating congestion,
brings real benefits not just to those who use it, but also to those who do
not use it.
But public transportation does not just improve the economy
by taking cars off the road – it provides transportation options to low-income
workers who cannot afford to drive to work. According to the Surface Transportation
Policy Project, the proportion of household expenditures devoted to transportation
has grown from 14 percent in 1960 to almost 20 percent today. A recently published
Bureau of Transportation Statistics Issue Brief found that Americans
who commute by car or truck spent about $1,280 per year in 1999, while those
who were able to use public transportation to get to and from work spent just
$765 per year. Clearly public transportation provides real and needed savings
for the many entry-level workers coming into the workforce who are so critical
for the nation’s economy.
Public Transportation is in Demand
Last November voters in several communities, including Denver,
Houston, Grand Rapids and Kansas City, approved by large margins new local
taxes to provide new and expanded public transportation services. These were
just a few of efforts across the country to increase funding for transportation
infrastructure, and follows successful actions in other cities over the past
five years to expand transit service, including Phoenix, Charlotte, Dallas
and Minneapolis.
That these referenda have been approved should come as no
surprise. Polls have consistently shown that the American public not only
supports increased public transportation services but also supports providing
the resources to pay for it. As mentioned earlier, the recent Wirthlin Worldwide
study showed that 80 percent of Americans surveyed see quality of life benefits
from increased investment in public transportation; 76 percent support public
funding for the expansion and improvement of public transportation; two-thirds
support pro-public transportation Congressional candidates; and a majority
(52 percent to 41 percent) of Americans believe transportation investment
is preferable to tax cuts to stimulate the economy. These findings hold true
across areas of all sizes - urban, suburban, small town and rural. A poll
taken in spring 2003, by APTA and the American Automobile Association (AAA)
showed that 95 percent of those surveyed said traffic congestion, including
commutes to and from work, had grown worse over the last three years, with
92 percent believing it was either very important (71 percent) or somewhat
important (21 percent) for their community to have both good roads and viable
alternatives to driving.
The Wirthlin Worldwide poll demonstrates that support for
public transportation has increased dramatically not only in our biggest cities,
but in smaller urban communities and rural areas as well, where 40 percent
of America’s rural residents have no access to public transportation, and
another 28 percent have substandard access. It is estimated that
rural America has 30 million non-drivers, including senior citizens, the disabled
and low-income families, all of whom need transportation options. According
to a survey of APTA members, bus trips in areas with populations less than
100,000 increased from 323 million to 426 million in a recent five-year span.
While demand for new and expanded service is increasing,
the resources required to simply maintain the present level of service are
immense. A 2002 AASHTO report estimates that $44 billion is needed annually
to meet current transit capital needs for new projects and improvements to
existing systems as well to expand the availability of transit service to
more Americans.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PROVIDES MOBILITY OPTIONS
Public transportation provides mobility options to persons
who choose not to, or cannot, drive because of age or a disability. For many
in this population, public transportation may be the only option to living
a fully independent and productive life. For many Americans, public transportation
can be the difference between staying in their own homes or moving into an
assisted living community.
According to the AARP’s Beyond 50.03: A Report to
the Nation on Independent Living and Disability, released in August 2003,
as people move from their 70s into their 80s, the percentage of licensed drivers
falls to 50 percent from just over 90 percent. With the baby-boom generation
approaching retirement age, this means the population of elderly Americans
who do not have a driver’s license will soon pose a serious challenge.
Persons with disabilities face similar mobility problems.
Many cannot drive or afford vehicles that are fitted to their needs. Public
transportation can provide them the options they need to stay active and independent.
However, according to AARP’s report, 32 percent of people with disabilities
over 65 report that inadequate transportation is a problem. The report states
further that while public transportation is more economically efficient in
areas with high population density, many older Americans with disabilities
live "outside of central cities in communities where public transportation
is found least often." This is becoming a growing problem, and it is
clear that we need to begin to address the important transportation needs
in these areas.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PROVIDES GOOD VALUE
Unlike other modal transportation projects funded
through the Department of Transportation, major capital transit projects funded
by the FTA are subject to a rigorous federal review process. A comprehensive
alternatives analysis process is undergone, with various transportation alternatives
weighed and considered. The overall review process typically involves five
or more years of planning, environmental studies and technical analysis. The
projects must be included both in state and local transportation programs
and plans. To qualify for project approval and a full funding grant agreement,
project sponsors must demonstrate not only financial capacity to construct
the project but also to maintain and operate the service once put in place.
Much of the process turns on ridership and project cost estimates. In that
regard, we are pleased to note that ridership and project cost and benefit
estimates for recent new start and bus rapid transit projects have been very
accurate, and we will continue to work with the FTA and our members to make
sure that forecasting is as accurate as possible. The result of this rigorous
process is that the completed transit projects provide real value and an excellent
return on the dollar, often in areas not typically recognized: increased value
and income for property owners; expanded markets, rising productivity and
increased revenues for business and commercial owners/occupants; and enhanced
tax revenues for local governments - from rising land values, expanded development
and an upsurge in business transactions. While we support this rigorous review
process and the excellent projects that result from it, we remain concerned
that it does not apply to other transportation projects under the jurisdiction
of the Department of Transportation. We think it would be good public policy
to have all major federally funded transportation projects subject to similar
federal review processes.
PRESIDENT’S BUDGET PROPOSAL
The President’s Fiscal Year 2005 budget proposal proposes
to freeze funding for federal transit programs at the FY 2004 level of $7.266
billion. In its proposal for a six-year authorization bill, which was submitted
to Congress nine months earlier, the Administration had proposed to fund federal
transit programs at $7.369 billion in FY 2005, $103 million more than the
amount for transit in the FY 2005 budget proposal.
Mr. Chairman, now is not the time to shortchange investment
in public transportation! While the Administration continues to advocate for
policies that will support a healthy economy and produce more jobs, its budget
proposal for transit does not adequately address the need to improve our nation’s
transit systems, and create jobs in the process. We again emphasize the 47,500
jobs created by every $1 billion invested in the public transportation infrastructure
or the $30 million in private business sales that are generated for every
$10 million invested in transit.
Mr. Chairman, we strongly believe that growth of the federal
investment in public transportation can help advance many of the nation’s
key goals, and that freezing federal funding for transit simply defers the
growing backlog of unmet transit capital needs. We urge the Committee to fund
the federal transit program in Fiscal Year 2005 at no less than $8.65 billion,
the amount provided in SAFETEA (S. 1072), the Senate-passed TEA 21 reauthorization
bill.
CONCLUSION
Public transportation should and can play a key role in meeting
the goals of the Administration and Congress in providing jobs and economic
development, energy independence, and mobility options for millions of American.
Mr. Chairman, we look forward to working with the Committee as it takes up
the FY 2005 appropriations bills, and urge you to invest in surface transportation
programs at the highest levels possible.
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