Letter to the Hon. Susan Collins, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, and the Hon. Jack Reed, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies - Call for Continued Investment in Public Transportation

Letter

As the Subcommittee begins crafting the Fiscal Year 2018 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, we encourage you to support critical investments in public transportation around the country through robust funding of the Federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program. We were disappointed to see the elimination of future funding for this vital program in the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Blueprint, contradicting Congress' recent bipartisan commitment to the CIG program in the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which authorized $2.3 billion annually for CIG grants through Fiscal Year 2020.

America's population is growing, presenting major transportation challenges for communities across the nation. More people, vehicles, and freight crowding our roads translates to increased costs and delays for commuters and businesses alike. From 2002 to 2012, delay times experienced by travelers worsened by nearly 20 percent. Congestion now wastes 6.7 billion hours and three billion gallons of fuel nationwide at a cost of $154.2 billion per year.

A critical tool for combatting congestion is federal investment in public transportation. And with transit ridership in the United States at its highest level in five decades, federal funding for transit through the CIG program is more important than ever. The CIG program, through its New Starts, Small Starts, and Core Capacity grants, allows communities to compete for funding to build and improve subway, commuter rail, light rail, bus rapid transit, streetcar, and ferry projects that move people more efficiently, improve quality of life, and increase economic growth and sustainability.

The significant benefits of investment in the CIG program to both large cities and growing communities across the country cannot be overstated. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, every $1 billion of federal investment in public transportation supports approximately 13,000 jobs and an estimated $3.5 billion in economic activity. Nearly 90 percent of public transportation trips directly benefit the economy, increasing access for tens of millions of riders each day to jobs, education, healthcare, social services, and local businesses. Public transit investments save four billion gallons of gasoline, prevent 37 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, and save travelers 646 million hours of commute time per year. Federal investment in transit also leads to increased economic development in the areas surrounding transit stations, increasing property values of nearby homes and businesses by as much as 130 percent.

Our local communities are strongly committed to investing in transit. In fact, Federal support through the CIG program provides only 45 percent of the costs of the average project. Yet, the need for increased federal investment in transit is evident in the number of cities and transit projects competing for CIG funding each year. There are nearly 60 projects in the current CIG program pipeline in 19 states, and requests to participate in the CIG program far exceed the program's current funding levels. Robust funding is needed to meet that demand and uphold the commitment made to communities across the United States in the FAST Act by bipartisan majorities in the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives.

Thank you for your support for this vital program, which helps communities around the country expand public transportation options to increase connectivity, reduce congestion, and boost economic growth.