From: "Friends of Transit" To: Subject: NAPTA Update 17 Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2004 4:01 PM NAPTA Update - January 8, 2004 To: Members of the NAPTA Coalition From: NAPTA Co-Chairs David Schwartz and Amanda Eichelkraut Legislative Updates Congress is scheduled to reconvene on January 20th. Two Proposed Bills Could Shift Transit Funding Two bills were recently introduced in Congress that might have an impact on transit funding; both in terms of level of funding as well as how those funds are distributed. H.R. 3611, the "Metropolitan Congestion Relief Act" was introduced by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and would make changes to shift control of transportation funding to metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), rather than state DOTs. The bill would also take steps to ensure funding commitments, and create two small programs focused on congestion mitigation in metropolitan areas. The recently introduced "New Starts Enhancement and Local Investment Promotion Act", or H.R. 3578, would take steps to assure fulfillment of New Starts transit projects that have obtained a Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA). Currently there is a gap in the fulfillment of funding for transit projects which this legislation would try to alleviate by allowing eligible project sponsors access to federal loan programs as part of TEA 21. NAPTA News Transit Takes Action Week, February 9-13 Just in time for Valentine's Day, NAPTA is joining the coalition of organizations participating in Transit Takes Action Week (TTAW), scheduled for the second week of February. TEA 21 is set to expire at the end of February and the longer new legislation goes unsigned, the more important it is for advocates to encourage their legislators to fund transit at the highest possible level. You will receive a TTAW toolkit in the mail, with letters and information to help coalition members send a focused message to Congress at a crucial time. Further information will be available soon on the Hot Topics section of the NAPTA homepage. Member profile As part of our effort to share best practices, we will be profiling another member organization for each update. Groups interested in being profiled for the NAPTA update should answer the questionnaire at http://www.napta.net/questionnaire.htm. Please note that if you have not filled out the survey, you will be receiving a friendly phone call reminder soon. RiderShip for the Masses of Sacramento, California seeks to obtain equitable transportation options for citizens of the Sacramento metropolitan area. Director Barbara Stanton oversees a group of twenty volunteers as well as a coalition of community groups. Members work with neighborhood associations and sit on community boards to advocate for "user friendly" public transportation. RiderShip for the Masses is currently working with planners and city officials to develop a plan for an Intermodal Transportation Station that would facilitate movement between bus, rail, automobile, bicycle and foot traffic. They are also keeping watch over plans for a light rail extension from downtown to the airport and promote the use of neighborhood shuttles to connect citizens with public transportation. http://home.earthlink.net/~barbs992/index.html Resources, Articles and Interesting Tidbits The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) released a report in December of 2003 about the impact of the recent economic slump and the September 11th terrorist attacks had on public transportation ridership. According to the report, nearly 60% of the transit authorities surveyed experienced a decline in ridership by August of 2003. The complete report is here: http://www.apta.com/research/info/online/econimpactsurvey.cfm. A Brookings Institute report released last month entitled "Highways and Transit: Leveling the Playing Field in Federal Transportation Policy" substantiates the Institute's long-held claim that federal transportation funding policy is slanted unfairly in favor of highways. This bias is quite clear when one considers how rare highway project funding ballot initiatives are compared to light rail initiatives. More at http://www.brookings.edu/es/urban/publications/20031215_beimborn.htm. The Federal Transit Administration, working in conjunction with the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Education, has established a program called "United We Ride.". The effort is designed to help transit providers better serve the public, particularly those who can not or do not drive. The program includes a resource toolkit, a State awards program, technical assistance, a conference (planned for this February) and a State-level grant program. http://www.fta.dot.gov/CCAM/United_We_Ride.html If you wish to unsubscribe from NAPTA's bi-weekly updates and Action Alerts, simply reply to this message with the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. National Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates, 1666 K St NW, 11th Floor, Washington, DC 20006