Winter Storm Stella was looking to shut down Washington, D.C., but that didn’t stop public transportation leaders from across the country from convening to shape the direction of the industry and meet with their legislators during the American Public Transportation Association’s Legislative Conference.
During this unpredictable, ever-changing time, there was a review of what is known, what has happened and what might be expected when it comes to federal funding of public transportation by the current administration.
“We don’t know how things will look,” APTA Acting President and CEO Richard White said. “We need to be able to mobilize our industry; we need you equipped.”
And the need is dire.
White reiterated the findings from the recently released American Society of Civil Engineers nation’s infrastructure report card, which rated the nation’s infrastructure at a D+. It is further broken down into categories and public transportation — at the bottom of the list — was given a D-. The report comes out every four years and White pointed out in 2001 transit was a C, then it was a D, another D and now a further step down at D-.
“It’s not because we’re not good managers, we’re not getting enough,” said White. It would take $90 billion to get our nation's transit to a state of good repair, as released by the U.S. Department of Transportation in December. That amount doesn’t include any increase in capacity.
During a press conference at the Legislative Conference, managers from agencies of different sizes were able to share how the lack of investment has impacted their agency.
The Chicago Transit Authority is the second largest transit agency in the United States providing 1.6 million trips each day with 1,800 buses and 1,600 railcars. “We’re very large and we’re very old,” said CTA President Dorval Carter. He stated it would take $13 billion to get CTA back to a state of good repair.
Eric Wolf, general manager at Altoona Metro Transit, said at his agency, they have six buses that are more than 40 years old. In the state of Pennsylvania he said there are two very large cities and many small ones and when it comes to transit, “Everyone’s trip is important.” Getting people to their job, their school, the grocery store, out to dinner or to kidney dialysis, it’s all important.
Federal Budget Process Underway
To best prepare for the unknown in the upcoming budget process, there was a focus on what is known, what typically happens and how some background influences may play out in the months and year ahead.
Andrew Brady, senior director, Government Affairs with APTA, provided a detailed overview of the federal budget process, starting with looking at opportunities and challenges with public transportation’s agenda in the 115th Congress.
One of the opportunities is that the people are on board with infrastructure. Passage of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act was bipartisan, and the unprecedented amount of passed ballot measures this past year shows the support at state and local levels. Infrastructure investment has also been something the administration has been focused on.
However, it’s a crowded agenda. While meetings and committees have been set up to talk infrastructure, there are many other things pulling attention, particularly repealing Obamacare. As many in Congress are up for re-election next year and they’ve been telling their constituents they would get it repealed, that is first on the agenda for many.
In addition, there are confirmation hearings, a Supreme Court justice appointment and the FY18 budget process that all need to be accomplished.
There is government funding through April 28 at FY16 levels. With the budget process, “The president proposes, Congress disposes,” Brady said. He explained they take the president’s recommendations, but the House and Senate each write their own and then the Senate Committee on Appropriations writes its own out. Brady said the president’s budget is a blueprint, a guide and a wish list.
The full budget is typically expected in May. Currently, there are documents going between the White House and the various agencies as the administration develops its budget. Details from those documents are starting to leak, though he noted nothing from the Department of Transportation has been leaked.
There will be a lot in the president’s request that won’t get through but there may be ideas in there that are used. Regarding infrastructure, Brady said, “Expect rumors.” But, there’s no plan at this point; the discussion is just beginning.
Administration Influences
National Editor of the Cook Political Report Amy Walter and National Political Reporter for the Washington Post led a discussion on the current political scene and how the recent elections may affect the legislative agenda for the year ahead in the 115th Congress. Walter started with, “The rules got thrown out the door in 2016. It was an untraditional candidate and it’s an untraditional president.”
Walter said despite President Trump’s low approval rating, the Republican base is committed to him no matter what; he has a 90 percent approval rating among Republicans. He’s not reaching out an olive branch to the other side, which is really fired up, too, she said.
“When it comes to politics,” she said, “you want angry people on your side.”
The other numbers to watch are the percent that strongly approves and strongly disapprove and right now there’s a 2 to 1 margin that strongly disapproves.
Most Republicans in Congress have never served under a Republican president. Two-thirds of the House and 50 percent of the Senate weren’t around in 2009-2010 and the Republican Party is fractured. The only thing that has kept them together has been their deep dislike of President Obama. Walter asked, “What keeps them together now?”
Walter and Costa both spoke of the rise of nationalism in the United States as well as Western Europe. From Costa’s work when he was covering Sarah Palin’s book tour, he first met Steve Bannon. “They were talking about working-class people, rebuilding America … Bannon truly believes in infrastructure and transportation.”
Costa also said that Bannon is open to spending. While Speaker Ryan, McConnel talk about tax credits, can they stick with some of the spending?
Walter said the president is flexible on idealogy, while Costa phrased it that President Trump doesn’t have ideaology but he has core beliefs. When Costa first interviewed Trump in 2013, Trump talked about winning again, trade, rebuilding and immigration. “Trump’s not a Republican at heart; he’s a Trumpist,” said Costa. “He’s willing to change.”
What happens on Obamacare will tell us a lot. It’s splitting the party apart and while Trump is supportive of healthcare, he’s not pushing it because he knows the vote may not be there; he could flip. He’s open to having Obamacare fall apart. If something gets through, it will cost the president capital.
The key vulnerability for transit is that President Trump doesn’t want to touch Medicare or social security but he needs $54 billion for the Department of Defense; he’s looking for billions of dollars to cut.
“The most important person to Donald Trump is the one he spoke to last,” said Costa. The people Trump listens to are the ones that get on TV and get to the White House. He doesn’t like policy discussions or briefs; he’s a reactive person. “There’s not much depth there, but there’s street smarts.”
High growth and high employment is the administration’s target to win 2020. The president doesn’t care about technology, he cares about what wins. Costa said, “You have to frame wins for the White House to give him a public win, like job-creation programs. Create wins for the administration.
“It takes a public, grassroots, media-driven pitch to get to Trump-Bannon,” said Costa.
As things move forward — changing day to day — Walter said, “Watch what they don’t tweet. Watch the actions, not the distractions.”
Next Steps
In some ways it could be an ideal time for public transportation with the investment in infrastructure and need for jobs.
White said he and some APTA staff recently met with Elaine Chao and showed her the Industry Footprint, an APTA portal that offers the latest information on APTA member locations around the nation, highlighting the private sector jobs at the state, congressional and district levels. “She was very impressed with this,” he said. “She wanted that information because she knew how powerful that is in the political debate.
“Public transportation moves 35 million people every day,” White said. “Seventy-three percent of all capital money in transit goes back into the private sector, the supply chain.”
With President Trump’s $1 trillion investment in America’s infrastructure proposal, a new analysis by APTA reveals a $200 billion portion of this in public transportation over a 10-year period could create and sustain 10 million jobs and sustain $800 billion to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
The $200 billion is based on three separate analyses as the association developed recommendations for the FAST Act.
“It’s a heavy price to a community to keep kicking the can down the road,” said White.
- $4.5 trillion needed to get to a B grade for infrastructure
- $2.5 trillion available
- $2.0 trillion short
“We recognize the challenges, but there’s overwhelming support,” White said, referencing the 71 percent of successful ballot measures in 2016 and bipartisan passage of the FAST Act.
The federal share for capital investment is about 40 percent he cited. “We do self-help more than asking the government. Don’t be shy about the ask,” stressed White.
“We carry 35 million people every day; we’re fueling the local economy."
