Sources of funding transit in Texas : final report (original) (raw)

Estimated impacts of the 2010 census on the Texas transit funding formula

2010

The purpose of this research is to project population growth for the 2010 Census in urbanized and non-urbanized areas in Texas and to identify the impacts on funding allocations to eligible urban and rural transit districts using the Texas Transit Funding Formula. The 2010 Census outcomes will affect each of the 30 state funded urban transit districts and 38 rural transit districts in Texas. The findings from this research will help the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), public transportation providers, metropolitan planning organizations, and stakeholders understand how changes in the urbanized and non-urbanized population and changes in the population demographics will impact public transportation for the state.

Transit funding: Implications of federal aid strategies

Transportation, 1981

Federal funding strategies greatly affect investment in urban transportation facilities in the United States. This analysis concentrates on the implications of varying federal aid matching requirements, structuring aid programs as categorical or block grants, and allocating funds on a discretionary basis or according to formula. Toward this end the effects of recent federal transit aid arrangements are assessed.

Local and Regional Funding Mechanisms for Public Transportation

2009

This report and the Local and Regional Funding Database, which is posted on the Transportation Research Board (TRB) website at http://trb.org/news/blurb\_detail.asp?id=9599, will be of interest to public transportation systems, local and regional governments, and others interested in funding for public transportation services. The Local and Regional Funding Database in intended to serve as an interactive repository of information gathered from transit systems about their local and regional funding mechanisms. This database can be updated in the future as additional information becomes available.

Paying for Transit in an Era of Federal Policy Change

Journal of Public Transportation, 2005

Public transit agencies rely on a combination of local, state, and federal subsidies to provide their services. However, federal policy changes have introduced uncertainty into the public subsidy picture. In 1998, Congress passed TEA-21, which eliminated federal operating assistance to agencies in U.S. urbanized areas with populations of 200,000 or more persons. This policy change came at the end of a more than decadelong decline in the share of federal operating support for agencies in larger urban areas. This article examines how agencies in different parts of the country and in different-sized urban areas have responded to federal policy changes by posing a simple question: Where have agencies turned to make up the operating fund shortfall? The investigation reveals that agencies in different parts of the country have followed different financial paths.

Transit in the Nation's Capital: What Lies Ahead? A Study of Projected Transit Service, Costs, and Financial Impacts on the Region Through the Year 2000. Final Report

Transit in the Nation's Capital: What Lies Ahead?, 1986

This study was done by an Interagency Task Force of private, local, State and Federal government officials under the auspices of the Federal City Council of Washington, D.C. The principal goal of this study is to achieve a regional consensus regarding what the Washington Metropolitan Area's total transit costs and revenues are likely to be through the year 2000. In addition, the study looks at how well prepared the area's jurisdictions will be to assume their respective shares of the operating deficits and capital costs. The report points out that currently, there is no single set of projects of future transit costs upon which decision makers at all levels of Government (local, State and Federal) can agree. The study calls for a commonly agreed upon objective set on numbers, and especially in the light of proposed cutbacks in Federal transit assistance. This report projected transit service, patronage, costs, revenues and financial impacts for the Washington Metropolitan Area. Data was developed for the two years that represent major milestones in the development of the metrorail system: 1993-when the metrorail system is assumed complete and 2000-when 102 miles are assumed open to service. The study assessed financial burden by comparing projected growth in the local jurisdictions' property values and non-transit expenditures. The key findings of this study are that: 1) the financial burden of subsidizing transit operations will be essentially the same in 2000 as it is today; 2) the burden picture changes in 1993 when assistance for construction, rehabilitation and replacement costs are added to operating assistance payments; 3) ridership demand is not expected to increase in the future as high as earlier studies had forecasted; 4) operating costs and deficits will increase 24 and 22 percent, respectively, as rail service doubles and bus service remains nearly constant; and 5) annual rehabilitation and replacement costs will increase from 42millionin1986to42 million in 1986 to 42millionin1986to150 million by the year 2000.

New Starts, Growing Inequities: Federal and Local Public Transit Funding

Public Works Management & Policy, 2018

Equity concerns regarding local revenue sources are increasingly important in the United States, as local sales taxes for transportation increase amid perceived federal funding shortfalls. This study examines shifts in the federal role and local funding sources for public transit projects supported by the New Starts program. The analysis finds that total federal New Starts spending grew over this period, but was distributed across more costly projects, with a resulting decrease in the average federal share per project. As expected, there was increased sales tax use at the local level. The increase in local spending on transit should be met with concern. Prior research has established that sales taxes fail along both the beneficiary to pay and ability to pay equity principles. Thus, the recent massive commitment to expanding public transit infrastructure relies on concerning funding mechanisms and may also fail to prioritize the needs of those with limited accessibility.

Conducted for the Public Transit Office

1999

iForeword The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) administers block grants to public transportation agencies throughout the state for the purpose of providing alternatives to private passenger transportation for use by the general public. It also administers the delivery to Florida public transportation agencies of federal funds pursuant to Section 5307 of the Mass Transit Act and intended for the same purposes as the state block grant funds. In recent years as previously rural counties attained urban status, agencies that had been created to provide specialized transportation for disadvantaged persons became eligible to receive block grants and Section 5307 funds in exchange for providing general public transportation services in addition to their original missions. The Florida Department of Transportation commissioned this study to learn the various ways in which five of the new Section 5307 transit agencies have been providing public transportation services for the genera...