By Ron Thaniel
September 15, 2008

Nearly a week after U.S Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that immediate steps were necessary to protect the solvency of the highway account of the Highway Trust Fund, on September 10, the Senate passed legislation (HR 6532) to restore $8 billion to the Highway Trust Fund.

As U.S.MAYOR went to press, the bill now goes back to the House which is expected to approve it September 11 for President Bush’s signature.

As recently as July, the White House issued a statement of administration policy saying President Bush would veto HR 6532 on the grounds that the House measure called for the $8 billion to come from the General Fund. The Administration instead suggested borrowing a portion, at least $3.2 billion from the Mass Transit Account. The U.S. Conference of Mayors opposed using the Mass Transit Account to plug the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund.

Though forecasted since the signing of the current surface transportation law in 2005, fuel tax receipts, the main source of revenue for the highway program, were significantly lower during the summer due to high gas prices and this accelerated the predicted shortfall.

This is a short-term fix and it is widely believed that another fix will be needed before the current surface transportation law expires in October 2009.

On September 9, The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced that more than 2.8 billion trips were taken on public transportation in the second quarter of 2008. This is almost 140 million more trips than last year for the same time period. Of note, in 2007, 10.3 billion trips were taken on public transportation – the highest number of trips taken on U.S. public transportation in 50 years.

Recognizing the growing demand for mass transit and associated increasing fuel costs, which is forcing transit agencies to raise fares, cut service, and borrow to address capital and operating needs, the Conference of Mayors is urging Congress to raise funding levels for public transportation above current spending authorizations and also urging the nation’s Governors to use the flexibilities that current law provides to allocate available federal transportation resources to bolster public transportation services.

Regarding Amtrak, in August, the railroad announced that its ridership in July Fiscal Year 2008 increased to 2,750,278, nearly a 14 percent increase, marking the most passengers carried in any single month in Amtrak’s 37 year history. Total ridership for the Fiscal Year to date — October 1, 2007 - July 31, 2008 — reached 23.7 million, topping the 21.3 million from the same period last year.

With the clock running out before Congress adjourns for recess at the end of September, the Conference continues to urge Congress to clear the reauthorization of Amtrak. The House bill was enacted in July and authorizes $14.4 billion for Amtrak over a five year period. The Senate measure passed last fall contains $11.4 billion over six years. The bill is waiting conference to work out differences.