APTA to Congress: Fully Fund FY24 Public Transportation Investments

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is urging the House and Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Committee leaders “to resolve their differences and provide the critical investments needed to improve our nation’s public transit, passenger rail, and multimodal infrastructure.”

“As you begin resolving the differences between the House and Senate THUD Appropriations bills, we urge you to fully fund public transit and passenger rail at the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 authorized amounts: $21.6 billion for public transit and $20.2 billion for passenger rail,” APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas wrote in a Jan. 11 letter to Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) [download below]. “These amounts would honor the promise of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. At a minimum, we urge the THUD Appropriations Act, together with advance appropriations of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to provide $21.1 billion for public transit and $16.7 billion for passenger rail, as passed by the Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 82-15. These investments are critical to our efforts to begin to bring public transit and passenger rail systems to a state of good repair.”

APTA also called on Congress to:

• Provide the fully authorized amount of $6 billion for the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Capital Investment Grants (CIG) “to help communities meet mobility demands.” APTA said that at a minimum, the $4.05 billion for CIG, as passed by the Senate, is needed for critical infrastructure investments.
• Provide additional public transit investments for specific initiatives, including the Senate THUD Appropriations bill’s additional $268 million for bus competitive and low-no emission bus grants, ferry grants, the accelerating innovative mobility initiative, and designated investments for specific public transit projects; and the House THUD Appropriations bill’s $131 million for specific public transit projects.
• Fully fund passenger rail, including the Amtrak, Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail, Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI), and Railroad Crossing Elimination grants.
• Provide the fully authorized amount of $3 billion for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grants, including public transportation and multi-modal projects.
• Support the Senate THUD Appropriations bill provision that expands public transit agencies’ authority to acquire land prior to completion of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, which APTA said would “streamline project delivery and bring FTA’s property acquisition authority into parity with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) programs.”

Skoutelas also noted that APTA was opposed to several policy riders included in the House THUD Appropriations bill. They are: section 192 that “prohibits any funding to require any information or reporting with respect to any DOT grant program in accordance with an equity action plan, including the DOT Equity Action Plan published in January 2022”; section 126 that “prohibits funding to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the FHWA’s July 15, 2022 proposed rule on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measures or a successor regulation”; section 153 that “prohibits any funding for California’s High-Speed Rail Authority project”; and section 428 that “prohibits any funding for activities to implement New York City’s congestion pricing under the Value Pricing Pilot Program or New York City’s Central Business District Tolling Program.”

“APTA strongly discourages the adoption of any of these harmful funding limitations in the THUD Appropriations Act,” Skoutelas wrote. “Protecting and supporting public transportation funding keeps America on track for success, so that everyone can thrive.”

APTA reported that under the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024 (Pub. L. 118-22), the first tranche of four appropriations bills, including the THUD Appropriations bill, expires Jan. 19. “Congress has only four days to complete action on the THUD Appropriations bill or a Continuing Resolution (CR) to prevent a partial government shutdown,” according to the association, which noted that the second tranche of eight appropriations bills expires Feb. 2. On Jan. 14, Congressional leaders unveiled a proposal to extend the two CRs to March 1 and March 8, respectively, and if Congress enacts this proposal, the THUD bill will expire March 1, APTA said.