House Action Jeopardizes Future of Public Transit

On Friday, the House Ways and Means Committee passed legislation that would strip dedicated federal funding for public transportation projects. An amendment to the bill decouples the transit budget from federal gas tax revenue. Public transit currently receives roughly 20 percent of the $0.184 per gallon motor fuel tax, totaling $10.5 billion a year. The bill, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Financing Act (H.R. 3864), was approved by a 20-17 vote and is to be amended to the House transportation reauthorization bill (H.R. 7).

The Ways and Means amendment strips away this revenue stream and dedicates it to highway infrastructure, which already receives the other 80 percent of gas tax revenue. To compensate the federal transit budget, the amendment allows for a one-time transfer of $40 billion from the General Fund to set up an Alternative Transportation Account. No offsets are provided for this transfer, nor are provisions for additional or renewable funding.

Without a predictable revenue source, the federal public transit budget will be severely limited. Transit projects are primarily financed by state and local taxes, but additional federal dollars allow projects to move forward. Because public transit projects are most often multi-year efforts and/or components of decade-long urban revitalization programs, lack of guaranteed long-term funding will threaten ongoing and proposed projects around the country. New and expansion transit projects are not the only ones in danger – federal support is critical in order to repair and maintain existing public transportation systems.

Volatility in public transit funding would slash jobs, stall regional economic development, and put more cars on the road. The many impacts of this legislation has led many national groups to quickly come out against the measure, including the American Public Transportation Association, Transportation for America, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Society of Civil Engineers, AARP, the American Public Health Association, and the AFL-CIO. Their opposition letter with 600 signatories can be viewed here.

More Americans are relying on public transit than ever before to connect to jobs and their communities. Federal uncertainty will stress state and local budgets and planning ability, which will ultimately impact the millions who use transit systems. Raised fares, reduced service, and delayed maintenance could grow to make many transit systems unsustainable without federal support. Development of new systems would become virtually impossible.

The full transportation authorization bill, with the public transit defunding provision attached, now moves to a full vote in the House next week. The Senate’s competing transportation bill, which maintains current transit policy, is moving forward as well. Download a PDF version of EESI's side by side comparison of the bills . EESI will provide updates as the bills progress.