The Obama Administration's proposed 2011 budget has hit the streets on the heels of the big high-speed rail spending plan and it's making lots of transit people very happy.
The bottom line is the federal Department of Transportation gets $79 billion, a $2 billion increase over last year. While most of it -- just over $42 billion, is designated for roads and highways -- a lot of money is being put to a lot of good projects: $10.8 billion for mass transit, $1 billion for high-speed rail, etc. You can read about the projects in great detail at the DoT's budget website.
The budget proposal is just that -- a proposal. It's still got to go through Congress and then to the president. Even then, specific projects laid out in the spending plan are simply budget justifications. It's essentially the various federal agencies saying, "If you give us this money, here's how we'll probably spend it." Binding line item projects come in major appropriations bills like the one proposed by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minnesota). Though Oberstar's legislation contains some general congruencies with the DoT budget -- an infrastructure bank, for one -- neither bill definitively assigns money to specific projects, and the fact both spending plans are subject to change makes comparing them difficult.
"How it will affect [the Oberstar bill's] authorization right now is unknown, as far as DoT funding," Jim Brerard of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said Tuesday. "The budget does not appear to have anything shocking."
Neither does it represent a paradign shift toward mass transit. But it is a notable step in the right direction. Here are some of the most noteworthy allocations in the DoT budget request.
First and foremost, this is the first budget request since the DoT announced in January a major change in how mass transit projects are considered for funding. Considerations of a project's cost-effectiveness -- defined by how much time riders might save -- have been downsized in favor of neighborhood economic development and "livability." The formula has been altered to allow stronger consideration for a project's potential to improve neighborhood dynamics and quality of life for residents. What does this mean in practical terms? Instead of rewarding sprawl by giving higher priority to those with longer commutes, the new standards will funnel more money toward making transit easier within cities and encouraging more densely populated mixed-use neighborhoods.
Second, the budget sets aside $4 billion to begin the National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund, the so-called infrastructure bank. Frankly, our eyes glaze over at the mention of federal financing mechanisms, so correct us if we're wrong, but the bank will make direct loans to transit authorities and guarantee payment of bonds issued to finance construction or maintenance of transit projects. The bank will provide a dedicated, dependable source of funding for infrastructure projects that traditionally have relied upon government grants that are easy to withdraw. Although the name of the program makes it clear it is dedicated to all infrastructure, the fact it falls under the DoT budget request suggests transportation will be a major focus. A summary of the bank starts about halfway down this Economic Policy Institute paper (.pdf), but what we'd like to see is The Idiot's Guide to The Infrastructure Bank.
Third, the Obama Administration also has set aside just over $1 billion for the NextGen Air Traffic Control system, which will -- eventually -- replace a system built upon World War II-era technology. That amount is an increase of roughly 30 percent over last year's budget. It would be difficult to overstate the need for this upgrade; the system we're using now is the airborne equivalent of building new roads to meet the needs of horse-drawn buggies. You can blame this antiquated system for much of the inefficiency in air traffic, and if it isn't fixed, the Federal Aviation Administration warns we'll be gridlocked by 2015. NextGen is an ongoing attempt to revolutionize, and hopefully introduce some sensibility to, the air traffic control system. It has a long way to go before it becomes the new standard, but hopefully this infusion of funds will speed things up some.
Fourth, $1 billion to high-speed rail under the Federal Railroad Administration and another $1.6 billion to Amtrak.
Finally, the budget provides capital infusions from the Federal Transit Administration to extend or build new mass transit in cities across the country. Granted, $1.8 billion isn't a whole lot when you're talking about infrastructure (Honolulu's light rail project alone will cost over $5 billion), but the funding awards are calculated to make the biggest impact when and where it's most needed -- light rail in Charlotte, a streetcar in Tuscon, a Metro extension in Washington, DC and other projects that lacked crucial funding. The budget request includes money for everything from light rail to subways to bus rapid transit. Both StreetsblogDC and The Transport Politic go into this in a lot more detail.
Although Washington remains buried in snow, Congress will any day now pass the $154 billion Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010 (.pdf), which includes $27.1 billion for highways and other surface transportation and $8.4 billion for public transportation.. And later this month the DoT will announce who's getting of TIGER grants out of the federal stimulus bill, which are expected to stress multimodal transportation links.
This month promises to be exciting indeed for transit advocates.
Photo: Associated Press. Jerry Castillo of Norman, Oklahoma, right, a concrete pump truck operator for Manhattan Road and Bridge Company, controls the flow of concrete as Marcus Lopez, left, works on the new I-40 Crosstown Bridge over Agnew Street in Oklahoma City.
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