APTA Calls for $15 Billion Investment in Public Transportation

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) recently called upon the US Congress to invest at least $15 billion in public transportation to support and create hundreds of thousands of jobs and stimulate the economy. APTA just completed a survey of transit services nationwide and identified nearly $15 billion in capital transit projects that can be started in 90 days. APTA estimates this investment would support and create more than 450,000 jobs. The survey also found that the majority of US transit agencies need more than the recommended $15 billion to avoid employee layoffs and service cuts. To date, nearly 90% of the nearly $12 billion designated for transit under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have been obligated.

According to the recently released "Economic Impact of Public Transportation Investment", a report completed by the Economic Development Research Group in the Fall of 2009, the benefits of public transit investment can be quantified such that for $1 invested in public transportation, an average of $4 is generated in economic returns. Roughly $3.6 billion of business sales and nearly $500 million in federal, state, and local tax revenue are generated annually by public transportation investment.

Outside of direct employment, US transit agencies sustain a large amount of the total workforce. Consider these statistics APTA observed in 2008 transit ridership:

- In 2008, Americans took 10.7 billion trips on public transportation
- 35 million times each weekday, people boarded public transportation
- Public transportation is a $48.4 billion industry that employs more than 380,000 people

For those interested in the Economic Development Research Group's study, click here

Posted by Ryan Jeroski, GVF

Green Routes to Work

Recently a bill has been introduced to Congress, HR 3271, better known as “Green Routes to Work.” What this bill does is incentivize alternative commuting programs by providing tax cuts and breaks for employers that offer specific programs designed to reduce Single Occupancy Vehicle (one person in one car) commutes. The Association for Commuter Transportation states that the bill will:

• make permanent the $230 the tax exclusion for both vanpool & transit; also knows as the transit benefit and parking fringe benefits;
• make self-employed individuals eligible for transit pass fringe benefits;
• include employer-established parking cash-out programs as a qualified transportation fringe benefit;
• establish a 10% vanpool investment tax credit
• establish a tax credit for subsidizing tax-free transit passes to employees;
• allow a general business tax credit for expenditures to improve access for bicycle commuters;
• allow employees to receive transit passes and reimbursements of bicycle commuting expenses as tax exempt
• employer-provided fringe benefits in the same month;
• allow an employer's election to expense the cost of removing architectural and transportation barriers
• to bicycle commuter access to employer facilities; and
• allow a tax credit for teleworking expenses, up to $400 per year.

What does this mean for the employer? If this this bill becomes law, it will provide an incentive for employers to be more engaged with employees’ commutes. Studies have shown that employees that commute by means other than Single Occupancy Vehicles are happier and more productive during the work day. Employers that treat the commute to work as a priority will ultimately have a happier and more productive workforce. This bill is currently before the House for debate, and has not been signed into law.

Posted by Shayne Trimbell, GVF Project Manager

Rail Track Improvements in PA to Increase Capacity, Create Jobs

American rail and intermodal freight giant CSX and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have begun work to upgrade the freight rail corridor that runs through PA so that it will allow double stack container traffic to operate on the line. The project will increase the clearances on 16 bridges along the route to allow double stacked trains to run along the line. According to CSX, the project will create 1,200 direct and indirect jobs and allow for the expansion of Philadelphia's freight transportation options.

Funding will come from federal, state, and private sources. CSX has already committed $12 million towards the track improvements, and PA has committed $10 million through the capital budget Transportation Assistance Program. An additional $10 million will be added from the federal government. Since Governor Ed Rendell took office, the Commonwealth's investment in rail freight has increased from $12.75 million to $40 million a year.


Governor Rendell said that in addition to supporting hundreds of jobs, the project will shave five hours off of travel time, which will improve efficiency, ease highway congestion, and improve PA's rail connections to the Midwest. Governor Rendell also pointed out that freight rail transportation is much more energy efficient that trucking. Today's average freight train has an efficiency of 400 ton-miles per gallon, while trucks currently hover around 130 ton-miles per gallon.


"A strong freight rail infrastructure will ensure that we maintain and expand this important industry, which is essential to our transportation success", noted Governor Rendell.

Stricter Transit Standards to Be Sought

Citing an increase in the number of subway and light-rail crashes and resulting passenger injuries, the Obama administration will push for legislation that would allow the federal government to set and enforce safety standards on the nation’s transit systems, officials said on Sunday.

“Safety is our No. 1 priority when it comes to planes, trains and automobiles,” Mr. LaHood said in a statement on Sunday. “It only makes sense that we should be looking out for passengers who ride subways, too.”

From 2003 to 2008, the national rate of passenger injuries on subways and light-rail crashes increased to 1.362 injuries per 100 million miles from 0.483, a 182 percent increase,.

Under the administration’s plan, states would be allowed to maintain oversight of their transit systems as long as they could demonstrate that they have enough fully-trained staff members to enforce federal safety rules, the authority to compel compliance from the transit system and enough financial independence from the systems they are regulating, officials said.

The federal government would also cover the costs of salaries and benefits for state employees overseeing standards. In states that are unable to provide adequate oversight, the federal government would assume that role.

The Full article by the New York Times can be found by clicking HERE

A Carpool is not a Rolling Hot Tub

My company, GVF is a non-profit transportation management association. One of the services we provide is developing commute alternative programs. The goals of these programs are to reduce congestion, improve worker productivity and happiness, and ultimately help the environment. Promoting commute alternative programs is never easy, and at time it feels like we are presenting the information in Sanskrit.

We promote a number of methods to reducing congestion that include carpooling, commute by transit, bike to work, vanpooling, telecommute, and flexible work schedule to name a few. All have their distinct advantages and disadvantages; however the biggest advantage of all of them to the average commuter is savings. In these times of a down economy and rising fuel prices one would think savings would be enough to entice people to show interest. Unfortunately that is not the case, and we constantly find people viewing these methods with a closed mind.

Carpooling is the easiest and most effective way to reduce commuting costs. Carpooling just one day each week will reduce your commute costs by a minimum of twenty percent. With the Emergency Ride Home Program you are covered if you need to leave work and don’t have your car. Combining cost reductions and ride home insurance with the fact that most people’s commute patterns do not change and many co-workers live close to each other makes this a no brainer. Countless carpooling expos have exposed the same apprehensions and concerns, people are not open to changing their commute habits even when it means saving money and time.

If carpooling doesn’t work (and it isn’t for everyone) perhaps biking to work makes sense. If you live within five miles of your place of employment, biking will take less than half an hour. Riding a bike will reduce more than congestion; it will shrink that ever expanding waste line too. Riding a bike, even one day a week during nice weather can have significant impacts. This summer, GVF managed our first Bike to Work Competition between four companies in the US 422 Corridor. Over 100 riders rode an excess of 40,000 miles in 20 weeks. Most people rode only one or two days each week.

Maybe you can’t carpool because you don’t always stay in your office all day, or biking is out if the question because you live to far from work. There is still an option for you; telecommuting. With today’s high speed internet, and low cost remote access options, working from home has gotten easier and sacrifices little more than the morning traffic jam. For the on-the-go worker, telecommuting makes sense because you can start and finish your day at home, rather than commute to an office you may not need that day. Telecommuting takes minimal effort to set-up, and can be a very nice benefit to offer employees when other companies are cutting benefits to remain profitable.

These solutions are a few options to easily lower commuting costs, improve the environment, and in many cases be a happier and more productive employee. Implementing any of these programs requires that both employer and employee are open to making small changes. If you are interested in learning more about commuting alternatives, or would like to offer program for your employees, please feel free to contact my organization. We have over 20 years of experience in developing alternative commuting solutions

What is a Mega-Region?

As metropolitan regions began to expand throughout the later half of the 20th century, the boundaries between these regions began to blur, creating a new geographic scale known as the "mega-region". Roughly five years ago, the concept of the mega-region surfaced, and was recognized quickly by urban planners and regionalists as a new way to look at the United States when it came to advocating for infrastructure funding. The mega-region concept is being pushed most prominently by America 2050, a national initiative to meet the infrastructure, economic development, and environmental challenges of the nation as we prepare to add about 130 million additional Americans by the year 2050. Since mega-regions are where most of the population growth by mid-century will take place, America 2050 has made this concept a major focus. Mega-regions comprise multiple adjacent metropolitan areas connected by overlapping commuting patterns, business travel, linked economies, environmental landscapes and watersheds, and social networks.

The rise of the mega-region concept has as much to do with development patterns and local economies as anything else. In the past, states have been the primary advocate for infrastructure funding. However, as the diversity between urban regions within states continues to grow, and as the development patterns around cities continues to expand in a sprawling manner, it has become clear that states may not necessarily be the best adovcating force for funding infrastructure improvements. For example although New York City and Buffalo are both in the state of New York, they have very different economies and face different challenges with economic development, infrastructure, and the environment. New York City identifies more economically with Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and Washington D.C. Meanwhile, the issues Buffalo faces are more similar to those faced by Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.

At least ten mega-regions have been identified in the U.S. In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and the eastern part of the Commonwealth are covered by the Northeast Mega-Region, while the western part of the Commonwealth is covered by the Great Lakes Mega-Region.

Mega-regions very well may shape the future of transportation in the U.S. In the second half of the 20th century, the Interstate Highway System enabled the growth of metropolitan regions throughout the country. Now, emerging mega-regions need a transportation network that will work for places 200-500 miles across. The Obama administration's desired nationwide high-speed rail system may very well be that transportation alternative. Mega-regions also will need new intermodal freight systems that link rail, truck, seaports, and airports. Improvements to the freight system will need to create new capacity, to make the nation's goods movement system more efficient and reliable as it becomes increasingly integrated into global markets.

The goal of the mega-region concept is to focus economic development and job creation into areas with the infrastructure in place to support all this population increase. It will strengthen already economically viable areas, and fight against the sprawling development pattern that has in many ways symbolized the later half of the 20th century. By negating sprawl and encouraging the vitality of these mega-regions, it will be easier for the U.S. to focus finite amounts of transportation and infrastructure funding.

For more information about Mega-Regions and America 2050, please click here

Which Project Should be Built

Which project gets funding, and ultimately gets built? This is a classic problem transportation planners have faced, and are facing more frequently as a result of the fiscal constraints placed on project funding. Deciding which project to fund is not an easy decision to make, and the results can have long lasting impacts on a region. In the US 422 Corridor the list of “wants” far surpasses the available funds; even more difficult is that the list of “needs”, projects that are of highest priority, also exceed the available funds.

Industry-wide innovative financing models are being implemented to fill the funding gap for large expensive infrastructure projects. Methods, which primarily center privatization of an asset and assessing user fees to raise revenue, are being used throughout the nation, and world. This concept, known as a Public Private Partnership, or P3, has been met with varying degrees of success and carries its own set of advantages and disadvantages. In most cases however, one of the leading factors into the success of a P3 is placing high value, and thus a high priority on the improvements provided by the P3 and followed closely by a willingness to pay for the improvements.

What does this mean for the US 422 Corridor? It has been no secret that user fees are being explored as a method for raising revenue to make the necessary improvements on US 422. Collecting a nominal fee from the tens of thousands of daily trips on US 422 may provide the funds to complete such improvements as new and more efficient bridges, access ramps, and additional capacity on the highway mainline. This is not a new model for highway funding; anyone who has traveled on the PA Turnpike has experienced the benefits first hand.

If improvements are to be made on the US 422 Corridor, it is important that residents and business owners understand the current situation in funding infrastructure at both the state and federal level. The recent budget crisis in Harrisburg underscores the need to begin rethinking how projects are built. Funding from the Federal Highway Administration is not any brighter. For the second year the highway trust fund has required an emergency infusion of cash from Congress to keep it from going bankrupt. That situation is leaving major improvement projects like US 422 with little hope for a large influx of funds. Without question, it is time we begin to think differently about paying for our roads.

Without question improvements must be made to US 422. The highway is under capacity for the daily demand placed on it, the bridges need to be replaced, and the access ramps are not consistent with modern design standards. Improvements to US 422 will improve the quality of life for corridor residents, attract new businesses to the region, and create jobs and opportunities. The future economic competiveness for the US 422 Corridor should be top priority for all residents and businesses. Changing how we think about infrastructure funding is one mechanism to ensure success for the future. As always, to stay connected with this issue and the progress of the proposal visit www.422corridor.com.

DEP Announces Funding is Available for Alternative Fuel Transportation Projects in Pennsylvania

Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger announced today the opening of reimbursement grant funding for clean, alternative fuel transportation projects in Pennsylvania. A total of $7 million is available for innovative, advanced fuel and vehicle technology projects resulting in cleaner, advanced transportation within the state.

Eligible projects would focus on the use of alternative fuels and the use of fuel saving vehicles, fleets and technologies.

The application package (including guidance and application forms) can be found at www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: "Alternative Fuels" or by contacting the Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Energy and Technology Deployment, 15th Floor, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 400 Market Street, P.O. Box 8772, Harrisburg, PA 15105-8772, 717-783-8411.



Click Here to read full article on the AFIG Grant Program
A link to the specifics of the AFIG Grant program can be found Here