Cutting Federal Transit Funding Won't Close Budget Gaps - But Will Make Transportation Less Affordable - Streetsblog USA

"Every year, the federal government provides more than $100 billion in transportation funding for states, cities, and towns to maintain and improve their streets, highways, transit systems, and railways. But the Highway Trust Fund, which the government uses to fund those investments, is running out of money. Now, Congress is discussing how to reauthorize various transportation programs, given that financial crisis."

"These changes, which must be approved by Congress, would slash transit agencies' budgets, cutting funding by 15 to 20 percent overall according to my analysis, leading to reduced services, delay of urgently needed repairs and improvements, and higher costs of living for millions of Americans. These cuts would disproportionately hurt rural and small communities and would still fall far short of addressing the highway trust fund's revenue crisis."

"To truly make transportation effective and affordable for Americans, Congress should take the opposite tack: increasing support for the nation's transit systems. Defunding transit won't solve the Highway Trust Fund's revenue crisis. Currently, Highway Trust Fund revenues largely come from gas taxes, which have stayed at the same rate since 1993, even as fuel economy has increased. As a result, inflation-"

Federal transportation funding exceeds $100 billion annually for streets, highways, transit systems, and railways, but the Highway Trust Fund faces a shortfall. The administration proposes shifting toward a 'user pays' approach, cutting public transportation spending by eliminating the fund's mass transit account (about $15 billion yearly) and prohibiting states from flexing highway dollars to transit. Those changes would reduce transit budgets roughly 15–20 percent, lead to service cuts, delayed repairs and upgrades, and higher living costs, disproportionately affecting rural and small communities. Reducing transit funding would not resolve the underlying revenue decline tied to a stagnant gas tax.

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