We began this year with a fair amount of trepidation about what lay ahead. Even the typically optimistic were concerned the economy was in freefall to unknown depths. This was a good year to be a nimble budgeter: trimming, adjusting, cutting, slashing and working toward December, when hopefully, expenses didn’t outrun revenue. The precipitous decline in sales tax revenue, chiefly derived from vehicle sales, served to spotlight the need for a less variable source of transit system funding.

At Mass Transit, we trimmed the size of a few issues early in the year to match the uncertainty of the market. It was a prudent time to be cautious. The suppliers we talked with universally were cutting back as all the markets they served were affected. Congress was responding to the economic downturn by, among other things, asking APTA in January to determine how many transit-related jobs would be created by stimulus funds. This information would both justify the investment of ARRA funds and provide some much-needed positive news for the nation. By mid-year there was the promise of stimulus funds flowing into the transit industry, but no actual funds in corporate coffers.

Months of uncertainty on economic direction finally began to give way to business as usual, since tight operating and capital budgets are the norm at our agencies. Over the summer at the APTA Bus & Paratransit Conference in Seattle and the APTA Rail Conference in Chicago, we talked with scores of agency and supplier people who expressed real optimism going forward. Equipment acquisitions, projects and requests for proposals are in the pipeline. The U.S. Department of Transportation is reviewing more than 270 high-speed rail pre-applications from 40 states seeking to qualify for stimulus funds. Many of these applications are for multi-state regional projects that stand a good chance of getting underway soon.

From a gloomy start this year, we’ve traveled a long way. States are responding to the promise of federal transit funds by establishing state rail authorities. Highways, too, received a lot of attention this summer, with orange barrels seemingly around every corner, with plenty of workers on the job. Often a large sign in the area under repair identified the source of funding for these projects. Perhaps we’ll see similar scenes along numerous rail right-of-ways in the not-too-distant future.