Transit Funding
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Massive Coalition Opposes House GOP Attempt to Eviscerate Transit
The House Ways and Means committee has just passed a bill that would kick transit out of the Highway Trust Fund, casting aside a 30-year history of providing a dedicated funding source for federal transit programs. Transit instead would be funded by a transfer from the general fund, which would have to be offset by cuts elsewhere to avoid raising the deficit. As US PIRG's Dan Smith said yesterday, this is like saying that transit funding will come from the Tooth Fairy.
February 3, 2012
House GOP Moves to Decimate Dedicated Transit Funding
In a move that should dispel any remaining thoughts that the House transportation bill [PDF] will ever be signed into law, the Ways and Means Committee announced today that they will try to forbid gas tax revenue from funding transit.
February 2, 2012
Joe Lhota: The MTA Needs New Tax Revenue
The MTA needs new revenues, announced chairman Joe Lhota during a broad-ranging panel discussion at Fordham University this morning. "There's going to be the need for broad-based tax revenue somewhere within the system over the next couple of years," Lhota said, noting that he's generally the kind of conservative person loath to call for tax increases.
January 23, 2012
Cuomo Budget Includes No Transit Raids, Opens the Door to Massive MTA Debt
Governor Andrew Cuomo's 2012 budget, released this afternoon, offers what now passes for good news for transit: maintenance of the status quo.
January 17, 2012
Ravitch: Big Business, Cuomo Have Failed to Lead on Transportation
New York's infrastructure is dangerously underfunded and threatening to cripple the region's economy, warned former lieutenant governor and MTA chairman Richard Ravitch in a speech on Thursday.
January 13, 2012
For Second Year, MTA Funding Tops NYLCV’s Transpo Agenda
Between continued raids on dedicated transit funds, a cut to the MTA payroll tax, and the state's decision to pay for the last three years of the MTA capital plan with debt, 2011 wasn't a good year for the MTA's finances. The New York League of Conservation Voters is hoping that 2012 turns out to be kinder to transit riders.
January 10, 2012
Lawmakers Push to Fund Transit Service During Economic Emergencies
In October, Reps. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Steve LaTourette (R-OH) introduced a bill to allow transit agencies to use federal money to hire bus drivers and pay other operating expenses.
December 20, 2011
Transit Union Leader Urges Labor to Back Transit on the New Tappan Zee
Despite widespread opposition, Governor Andrew Cuomo is plowing forward with plans to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge without transit. Even so, there's still no plan for how to pay for the bridge. Cuomo has proposed that union pension funds put up some of the money, but there's been no explanation of how those pension funds would be paid back.
December 13, 2011
Cuomo Tax Deal Could Leave $320M in MTA Funding on Shaky Ground
As the details of Governor Andrew Cuomo's MTA tax deal take shape -- they've been in flux all day -- it appears that transit service could be imperiled, if not immediately then in the long-term.
December 7, 2011
Mapped: How Federal Funding Fails to Match Demand for Transit in the U.S.
How much is New York's Second Avenue Subway estimated to cost? What transit lines really make up LA's ambitious 30/10 initiative? Besides the silver line to Dulles Airport, which may or may not ever be completed, what other changes are projected for DC's metro system? And what's all this construction in Fort Worth?
November 29, 2011