By Ron Thaniel
July 19, 2010

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development completed the first step in the 2011 appropriations for transportation programs on July 1 by allocating more than $76 billion for transit, rail, aviation, and highway programs.

Specifically, the Subcommittee approved $45.2 billion for the Federal Highway Administration, an increase of $3.9 billion above the President’s request to complete additional infrastructure projects.

The Subcommittee also approved $11.3 billion for public transportation programs. This is an increase of $508 million above the President’s request in order help address the nearly $80 billion maintenance backlog needed to meet a state of good repair on the nation’s fixed guideway and bus systems.

In addition, the Subcommittee provided $3.2 billion for Amtrak, the High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program and investments in positive train control. Of concern for the Conference of Mayors is that the appropriation for the High Speed Rail and Intercity Passenger Rail Program is $1.1 billion less than the enacted level for FY 2010, which was $2.5 billion.

Regarding aviation programs, the Subcommittee provided $16.5 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration’s operations, capital, research and airport grant programs and invests a total of $1.16 billion for the NextGen program. This includes level funding for the Airport Improvement Program at $3.5 billion.

The Conference of Mayors is pleased to see that the Subcommittee has provided $150 million for the Sustainable Communities Initiative for the second year in a row. The partnership with HUD, DOT, and EPA seeks to help communities better coordinate their housing and transportation resources. The Conference is voicing strong support for this partnership, which is under attack by the highway and road lobby.

The Subcommittee decreased funding for the National Infrastructure Investment Program (TIGER) by $200 million. This is another program under attack in the highway and road industry. This powerful lobby, with support of some states, is lobbying for traditional formula programs, which primarily flow from the federal government to states for allocation within the state at the discretion of state departments of transportation, which historically have largely allocated the funding to road projects outside metropolitan areas. Under TIGER, funding is available to states, cities, transit agencies, port authorities, Metropolitan Planning Organizations and multi-jurisdictional entities – for capital investments in highway or bridge projects, public transportation projects, passenger and freight rail transportation projects, port infrastructure investments, and intermodal facilities. TIGER received $600 million in FY 2010.