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April 7, 2005
Good News for Region in House Version of Federal Transportation Reauthorization Bill As reported in the last BTA Update, both houses of Congress have been working on their reauthorization proposals. When it passes, the bill will establish the framework for transportation funding through 2009. The version of the bill passed by the full House on March 10 has a lot of good news for the Baltimore region, thanks to the region's House delegation but particularly Rep. Elijah Cummings. In addition to millions of dollars for high priority highway projects, the House bill contains the following earmarks for transit: Light Rail Double Track project receives its last three years of funding: $39.4 million for FY 2004, $28.8 million for FY 2005, and $12.7 million for FY 2006. Unspecified MARC improvements are included in the "Final Design and Construction" section. Red Line and Green Line are included in the "Alternatives Analysis and Preliminary Engineering" section. "Bus and Bus Facilities" section includes $5 million for a new intercity bus terminal in Baltimore and $5 million for a Howard Transit bus maintenance facility.
As Local Transit Ridership Declines, National Ridership Grows MTA's overall ridership declined 2.77 percent in 2004 compared to 2003, principally driven by steep declines in Light Rail ridership attributable to service shutdowns associated with the on-going double track construction project. At the same time, national ridership grew by 2.11 percent according to data reported by the American Public Transportation Association. When compared to 2003, Baltimore Light Rail ridership fell 37.5 percent and core bus ridership fell 1.3 percent. Metro Subway and MARC both showed strong growth of 3.5 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. Nationally, the largest increase of ridership in 2004 was in the light rail category which showed an 8.2 percent increase from 2003. Several new light rail services started in 2004 including Houston, Minneapolis, Little Rock, Charlotte, and Trenton. Extensions to existing light rail systems opened in Pittsburgh, San Jose, Memphis, New Orleans, Portland, Sacramento, and Jersey City. Heavy rail (subway) increased nationally by 3 percent. Commuter rail increased by 0.3 percent, while buses saw a ridership increase of 1.7 percent.
Federal Transit Administration Increases Emphasis on "Cost Effectiveness" of New Projects The Federal Transit Administration selects projects for funding through the application of criteria that establish a project's benefits relative to other projects. The rating system is divided into two parts: 1) Local Financial Commitment, and 2) Project Justification. Project Justification includes a number of categories, including mobility improvements; environmental benefits; operating efficiencies; cost effectiveness, defined as the ratio of travel time savings for all users to the project's capital and operating cost; and transit-supportive land use patterns at the local level. In a March 9 letter to its grantees, the FTA announced that, effective immediately, projects with a "low" cost-effectiveness rating will not be advanced in the development process and projects with a "medium-low" cost-effectiveness rating will not be recommended for funding. The American Public Transportation Association has opposed this change because it violates a longstanding federal policy to evaluate projects using a "multi-measure" approach that allows projects that are deficient in one area but exemplery in another to still be funded. In Maryland, this policy change creates an additional hurdle that must be surmounted before federal funds will be available for new projects. It is too soon to know how this policy will affect the Red and Green lines because the build alternatives are not sufficiently defined, but it will be the "fatal flaw" for alternatives that are expensive to build and operate relative to their benefits.
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