Texas Transit Association

Deep cuts in state transit funding, and now, a very slowed Texas economy, are all impacting public transportation agencies around the State. Legislative cuts of the last Session, which began in earnest in 2001 are still being felt in rural and small city Texas and their public transit services. The latest fatality is metropolitan transit as local city, and transit, sales taxes have fallen precipitously over the last year. The State Comptroller noted on Feb. 26 before a Texas Senate Finance Committee meeting that Texas has experienced an historic two-consecutive years of declining sales tax revenues. Transit authorities with sales taxes are beginning to initiate fare increases to cope with these revenue reductions and attempting to keep service up.

Download: 022803NoTexFares.doc (24.5 KB).

Local transportation officials look at placing tolls on local roadways to generate money.

Download: 022703TollSA.doc (26.5 KB).

On Feb. 26, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee chaired by Don Young (R-AK) gave voice vote approval to its Views and Estimates document for FY 2004 budget matters under its jurisdiction. According to House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee staff, the document, sent to the House Budget Committee, calls for $49.1 billion for the federal-aid highway and transit program in FY 2004, compared to $38.9 billion proposed by the Administration. Both the House and Senate are expected to consider the full budget resolution during the week of March 17. More Details expected later. [Thanks to our friends at the American Public Transportation Association for this information.]

Two recent news articles on a proposed regional motor fuels tax for mobility, be it highways or high volume mass transit, proposed by the county judge in Harris County, but now opposed by some local legislators and others.

Download: 020903HouRegl.doc (29 KB).

Download: 021603GrHouGasTx.doc (24.5 KB).

Congress has finally acted on 2003 appropriations for public transportation. Highway funding remained at a constant level from that of 2002, while transit funding increased by level guaranteed in TEA-21, or $7.2 billion, less $47 million due to across-the-board funding cuts. The Clean Fuels bus program saw $50 million transferred from that program to the discretionary Bus & Bus Facilities program at FTA, and another $45 million was transferred from the Job Access & Reverse Commute program, or JARC, to the Fixed Guideway New Starts program. A breakdown of the formula program grants will come as soon as more detailed information is released. Corpus Christi RTA will receive some $500,000 in highway intelligent transportation funding for its ADART program (Autonomous Dial-A-Ride Transit) for their Phase Four implementation.

Transit Fixed Guidway New Starts earmarks:

DART - North Central Light Rail extension at $60 million

Houston Metro - Advanced Metro Transit Plan at $11 million

Bus & Bus Facilities earmarks:

Abilene CityLink bus replacement at $600,000

Austin’s Capital Metro bus projects at $5,000,000

Beaumont Transit buses at $100,000

Brownsville Urban Transit buses at $100,000

Corpus Christi RTA at $500,000

El Paso Sun Metro at $1,500,000

Fort Worth Transportation Authority at $3,000,000

Galveston Island Transit buses at $1,000,000

Houston Metro’s Advanc3ed Transit program at $2,000,000

Laredo El Metro administration, operations, and maintenance facility at $1,750,000

Lubbock Citibus buses at $150,000

Odessa and Midland alternative fueled transit buses at $1,000,000

San Antonio VIA at $1,500,0000

Texas Tech University Park & Ride, and buses (Lubbock) at $1,850,000

Waco Transit buses, and maintenance and administration facility at $1,900,000

The Woodlands District park and ride at $1,200,000

JARC earmarks:

Abilene CityLink at $100,000

Capital Metro at $2,500,000

Lubbock Citibus at $230,000

Corpus Christi RTA at $1,225,000

East Texas Just Transportation Alliance (Tyler Transit) at $200,000

El Paso Sun Metro at $250,000

Galveston Island Transit at $600,000

San Antonio at $1,088,000

American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has provided an update on the Bush budget proposal detailing program amounts for FY2004. Bus & Bus Facilities Program eliminated and moneys shifted to other programming.

Download: 020403 APTA Update.pdf (75.45 KB).