Testimony Of
William W. Millar, President
American Public Transportation Association
Before The
National Surface Transportation Policy And Revenue Study Commission
Improving The Performance Of Our Transportation System
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March 19, 2007
(Download In Adobe PDF Format)
Transportation Performance and National Purpose
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) appreciates the opportunity to be with you today. We have worked closely with the Commission since its inception, and can attest to your commitment to seeing that the United States has the preeminent surface transportation system in the world.
Many of your deliberations have been directed at two overarching issues, the federal role and purpose in transportation and articulating a vision that can direct transportation policy for the coming decades.
For the federal purpose we need look no further than our Constitution. Among its fundamental purposes the federal government has always promoted both commerce and the common good of its citizens. It happens that these same two purposes are core functions of our surface transportation system. At stake is America's ability to compete in the global economy and ensure a healthy environment and high quality of life for Americans.
On the subject of performance, I want to mention some news that was announced last week. In 2006, the number of trips taken on public transit was 10.1 billion. This is the highest ridership in 49 years. These trips were to the office, to school, to the doctor, to the grocery store, to the movie theatre, and to the shopping mall. These trips were in rain, snow and sunshine. These trips were made by people young and old, in places large and small. All across America, public transportation provides choice, freedom and opportunity.
Let me put the 10.1 billion number in perspective. This is more than the number of Americans who attended NFL games, MLB games, NBA games, NHL games, NASCAR races, went to the movies, and ate a hamburger from McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's combined.
Transit ridership growth of 30 percent since 1995 is outpacing both the growth of our population - 12 percent - and the growth in the use of the nation's highways - 24 percent - since then. Each weekday, 34 million trips are made on public transportation in our nation.
Transportation's Pivotal Role in Commerce and the National Economy
Efficient transportation is key to America's competitiveness in the global economy. In reducing congestion, enhancing economic productivity, connecting people with jobs and jobs with people, and serving as a catalyst for economic development, good transportation networks are central to America's health and well being. Maintaining the edge in our education and transportation systems is key to our global competitiveness strategies.
China and other countries are making huge leaps in their levels of infrastructure investments. China is opening new subway systems at the rate of one per year and is making enormous investments in national rail and highway networks. China has launched an aggressive plan to connect every province and its 30 largest cities in a national grid system for both freight operations and high speed rail - with new signaling technology and centralized traffic control to improve rail capacity. As U.S. transportation investments lag behind, our businesses suffer too. Non-U.S. firms are seizing opportunities to supply the equipment and signaling technology for dozens of new rail systems in countries throughout Europe and Asia.
America has long enjoyed the world's best overall surface transportation system, but the system is showing signs of severe stress. Leadership for confronting this challenge must not be delegated to state and local governments. This is an issue of national significance and one that requires national leadership.
Providing for the Common Good of Citizens
Public transportation programs are funded through a partnership of federal, state and local governments. This partnership has successfully put public transportation on a path toward growth and making a positive difference in our urban, suburban and rural communities. But as Americans in the 21st century expect and demand mobility, we have a duty to expand the capacity of our multi-modal transportation network. Transit improvements serve as an expansion valve at the greatest choke points of capacity in that multi-modal network. Good transit hastens the efficient flow of people and goods from coast to coast, from farm to market, from manufacturers to consumer, from suburb to city and from worker to job.
Increasing access to public transportation is clearly the best way to create a stable, healthy and strong America. Forty years from now when America's population will exceed 400 million we will be glad we had the foresight to discuss, plan and invest in the future of public transportation. As we look to the future, we know there is no possible way that our roads can accommodate all the anticipated growth on their own. Transit is, and has to be, part of the solution.
Increased awareness of the benefits of public transportation among our public and elected officials is essential so that all Americans will have greater access, mobility and quality of life.
All levels of government play an important role in financing public transportation, but federal government funding has become an essential force that helps state and local governments expand transit services to increase mobility and fight congestion. This arrangement is not new.
For public transportation, the federal government has been a catalyst for transit investment for the past 40 years and has helped leverage state, local and private funding for transit. The federal transit program received an enormous boost in 1982 when President Reagan approved a five cent increase in the federal gas tax, which for the first time dedicated 20 percent of the increase for public transportation investment, recognizing the importance that both transit and highways play in the national economy. More recent transit and highway reauthorization legislation has emphasized the multi-modal nature of the federal program and provided guarantees that assure that authorized funds are made available through the appropriations process.
The large federal role in public transportation funding since 1982 has been critical to communities realizing the benefits of public transportation, particularly the congestion relief provided by transit. Federal transit dollars have been leveraged by state and local governments throughout the nation to expand their transit services.
Much of the success of increased public transportation is attributed to federal leadership. Federal investment in New Starts has led to 127 new fixed guideway systems and system extensions which have gone into service since 1995. Restoring the project development process to traditional standards would help build more future projects and do them more quickly. Delays in the process amount to enormous costs to project sponsors and the federal government. Just as it is wise for the federal government to continue to invest in our highways, new federal investment in public transportation is also needed to allow cities of all sizes to fight congestion while increasing mobility options.
Public transportation is now viewed as central among governmental priorities and is a critical component of a balanced transportation system, providing choices as well as freedom and mobility to Americans in urban, suburban, and rural communities. It is a critical time for Congress to step forward as the catalyst for the ongoing renaissance of public transportation and its many benefits.
The Role of Public Transportation in a National Energy Strategy
Earlier this year there was another announcement on public transportation and its contributions to decreased dependence on foreign oil. A report by ICF International calculates that public transportation today reduces petroleum consumption by a total of 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline each year. This means:
- 108 million fewer cars filling up - almost 300,000 every day
- 34 fewer supertankers leaving the Middle East - one every 11 days
- over 140,000 fewer tanker truck deliveries to service stations per year
a savings of nearly 4 million gallons of gasoline every day, equivalent to 90 percent of the oil the U.S. imports from Kuwait; as great as the entire amount of gasoline consumed in states the size of Nevada, Utah or New Mexico; or five times the savings of converting the entire 478,000 federal light duty vehicle fleet to alternative fuels.
These savings result from the efficiency of carrying multiple passengers in each vehicle; the reduction in traffic congestion from fewer automobiles on the roads; and the varied sources of energy for public transportation.
All savings would be magnified with increased use of transit relative to the automobile. Savings would be magnified still further when we account for the energy efficiencies that are characteristic of cities highly reliant on transit which use much less energy per capita than auto dependent cities. U.S. cities use two and a half times more oil than comparable cities in Europe, and five times more oil than comparable cities in Asia. APTA intends to further quantify in future research the energy savings achieved by enabling land use patterns that create shorter travel distances, both for transit riders and drivers.
Rising Transportation Costs are Affecting American Households
The ICF International report also identifies the significant cost-saving opportunities to American households made available through public transportation. Indeed, a two-adult "public transportation household" saves an average $6,251 every year, compared to an equivalent household with two cars and no access to public transportation service. Transit riders save an average of $1,400 a year in gasoline alone. A "public transportation household" is defined as a household located within ¾ mile of public transportation, with two adults and one car.
To put these household savings in perspective, we compared them to other household expenditures:
- the average U.S. household spent $5,781 on food in 2004
- the average U.S. homeowner with a mortgage spent $6,848 on mortgage interest and fees in 2004
Transportation costs now consume 18 percent of the typical household budget, up from about 15 percent in 1960. This is second only to housing as a percentage of household budget and is higher than food (13 percent) and health care (6 percent), numbers three and four respectively. Thus, transit offers opportunities to households that will become increasingly important (particularly to workers) as energy and other costs continue to increase.
A Vision of Access, Mobility Options, Choices and Freedom for All People
The vision for America's transportation future must portray a nation where people have freedom to make transportation choices and where travel options are prominent. As population and economic growth occur predominantly in the nation's metropolitan regions, expanding public transportation will help accommodate that growth efficiently and will make the overall transportation network perform better. Pursuant to today's hearing, we need to work together to identify performance measures that will track how well the transportation system is performing to expectations.
Americans make their travel choices on the basis of smart and logical decision-making. If public transportation offers a convenient, comfortable, reliable and affordable transportation option, the traveler is likely to take the good deal and use public transportation. In places where accessible, high quality public transportation services exist, a high percentage of the traveling public uses the service. Plain and simple! The challenge/opportunity is to make high quality public transportation options available to a greater portion of the population. Americans base their daily travel decisions on the choices that are available to them. But Americans need more and better public transportation options as they position themselves for a growing economy. The recent American Housing Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau found that only 45 percent of American households have access to public transportation of any kind as they plan their daily travel, and only half of them (25 percent overall) have what they consider to be a good option. These statistics are much worse in rural areas and other areas where the transit services that are provided lack the level of service and amenities that can attract choice riders.
Making the Overall System Work Better
The impacts of congestion run deep. When we think about air transport congestion, the total trip from origin to destination must be considered. But with the help of public transportation, traffic congestion to and from the airport can be dissipated to allow for a quicker trip into and out of our cities. When we think of the freight trucking industry, transit similarly plays a role in keeping highways less congested in urban areas. The same can be said for Amtrak passengers whose decisions to travel by rail may be influenced by their ability to get to their ultimate destinations one they step off the train. Good public transportation service enables them to complete their trip quickly and efficiently. In short, we must view the entire transportation network as a single system, one that can be planned managed and financed with a broad view to the overall good. Holes in the network through underinvestment result in degradation of performance.
Measuring the Things that Matter
In assessing the performance of our transportation system we need to keep focus on the long-term trends being influenced by those transportation investments. For example, to what degree do our transportation investments help create communities that are more energy efficient and sustainable? Our strategies must be integrated. Transportation policies need to be consistent with other national goals such as energy independence, improved air quality, reduction of greenhouse gases, and housing with efficient and affordable access. Transportation investments should not lead to sprawling developments designed to be highly reliant on automobile travel, dependent on abundant and relatively cheap energy, and often associated with traffic congestion and disconnected communities. In this regard, regions that consider transportation plans and land use plans together should be rewarded. The same can be said for energy-efficient transportation strategies.
Recommended Strategies
Continue and increase strong federal investment in our nation's surface transportation infrastructure. The Commission must recognize that a resource efficient, extensive multimodal transportation infrastructure is the foundation of our economy and American way of life. Therefore, the federal government must continue to play a key investment role in our nation's transportation infrastructure - as it has done since the early days of the nation.
To stay competitive internationally, to address critical environmental and energy conservation issues, to provide mobility to our citizens, continued federal investment in public transportation is essential to our nation's future. While we should explore a transition to new federal infrastructure funding mechanisms, the gas tax remains an effective and efficient source of revenue for transportation investment. A recent Hudson Institute study makes this point (2010 and Beyond: A Vision of America's Transportation Future), concluding that "[u]ntil that transition has been made, Congress should immediately index and increase the existing federal motor fuel tax." A 2006 Transportation Research Board report, The Fuel Tax, makes the same point about the need to increase the existing motor fuel tax as does the 2005 report by the National Chamber foundation Future Highway and Public Transportation Finance. Increasing the motor fuel tax has the added benefit of encouraging alternative energy sources and discouraging reliance on foreign oil.
Investments Should be Associated with Broader Transportation Goals. In accomplishing these national goals, the American Public Transportation Association recommends the following principles:
- By 2015, a fully-functioning, high-capacity, high-quality regional transit system should be in place in every metropolitan region in America, and a choice of travel options should be available for Americans in all areas.
- Investments in public transportation should provide the capacity and availability to enable transit ridership to double in not more than 20 years.
Preserve the "guarantees" that assure authorized funds are appropriated each year. Equally important to federal investment are the guarantees started in TEA 21 that assure that federal funds authorized each year are made available through the annual appropriations process. This assured funding means that resources can be leveraged through public and private investment, assuring the maximum use of the funds. It also means projects can be completed on time and on budget.
Encourage public private partnerships and innovative financing mechanisms to supplement the basic federal investment for transit as well as highways. Gas tax funding and other federal financial resources may not be able to accomplish it all. It is important to encourage supplemental financing mechanisms including public/private partnerships, tolling, and other mechanisms provided a fair share of these additional resources is devoted to public transportation investment.
Streamline and expedite program delivery. The Commission should emphasize the importance of streamlining programs and processes to assure that federal funds flow as quickly as possible. First and foremost, the public transportation new starts process must be simplified to make sure that projects are not defeated by a never-ending process. The objective needs to be to add public transportation capacity, not to delay it. In addition, we are concerned that the multimodal effort begun in the landmark 1991 ISTEA and reaffirmed in subsequent bills is breaking down so that "flexible funds" are no longer truly subject to local decision making. This should be corrected.
Conclusion
America in 2040 will be a thriving country whose multi-modal environmentally-responsible transportation system is the envy of the world, or we can be a country past its prime that continues to pollute far out of proportion to its population. The decision we make about our transportation system in the coming years - what priorities we set and investments we make - will have a great deal of impact on which vision arises.
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