"The Trump administration's proposal to cut off federal transit funding to large cities that make their buses free could be motivated by political retribution rather than any meaningful policy goals, advocates fear - and in the process, it could create costly new inefficiencies for governments who are already struggling to deliver residents the mobility options they need."
"That language - which, if adopted, would be enshrined into the federal transportation law that will replace the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act when it expires this fall - would conspicuously shut out big, blue cities with zero-fare buses and mayors who have spoken up against the Trump administration, like Albuquerque and Tucson. But it would also conspicuously preserve federal funding for predominantly red rural communities, which represent most of the fare-free bus systems in the U.S."
"While Politico says that fare-free programs for "seniors, people with disabilities, children, students and veterans" would be excluded from the policy, it's unclear whether fare waiver programs for the very low income would be, too, like Philadelphia's celebrated Zero Fare pilot. And it's even more unclear how the policy is meant to improve transit in communities that are already struggling to grow ridership, reduce dwell times when fares are being collected, and speed up busses on car-congested roads with no money for dedicated bus lanes"
The White House is urging Congress to bar large jurisdictions from using federal transit funds to operate fare-free bus systems, defined by population and fleet size. The restriction would preserve funding for many rural, predominantly Republican communities while curtailing support for several large, fare-free cities. Exemptions for seniors, people with disabilities, children, students, and veterans are described, but protections for low-income fare waiver programs remain uncertain. The policy offers no clear mechanism to increase ridership, shorten dwell times, or fund dedicated bus lanes, and risks imposing new administrative and operational costs on cash-strapped local governments.
Read at Streetsblog
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]