While a handful of the largest agencies have funding sources that don’t make the future immediately dire, others are looking at hard decisions next year as city transit ridership remains depressed, cutting into revenue streams.
Despite some uncertainty as to the exact amount state agencies will receive from the IIJA funding, offices are hiring staff to identify financial need for projects such as roads, bridges, broadband and public transit.
Local governments and transit agencies are going to have to come up with matching funds, and to boost revenues, they’ll need to find ways to bring riders back. That will require some bold decisions.
Levies for public transit can win at the polls when taxpayers perceive that a project benefits them. These days, properly designed bus rapid transit systems seem to have better chances than expensive light rail.
A new study finds that many transit boardmembers are not representative of their constituents who ride bus, subway or rail. Too often members are old, white and male and don’t use transit much or at all.
The agency will create a “Fareness” panel which will analyze and recommend ways to discourage fare evasion through education, equity and enforcement to mitigate revenue loss, which is expected to reach $500 million in 2022.
A new Urban Institute study finds tax rebates are a better solution, while efforts that discourage driving would have the most significant long-term impact on the inflation problem.
Despite the national push towards electric vehicles, the Massachusetts regional transit authority has no immediate plans to transition its 69 buses to electric alternatives. One EV bus is almost double the price of a diesel bus.
The city’s Department of Transportation found that, during the 13-month pilot program, 22 percent of riders used scooters for commuting and 12 percent used them for running errands. The average trip was 15 minutes and cost $6.63.
Private geographic information companies, rich with useful data, have transportation solutions that governments need to start using.
A proposed 43-mile route would connect North Carolina’s Johnston, Wake and Durham counties. Total cost could top $2 billion, with the feds paying half. The trains could carry as many as 12,000 people a day.
L.A. Metro bucked digital privacy concerns when it turned to technology to monitor and enforce dedicated bus lane rules. The move is a win that places the rights of bus riders above the privacy of offenders.
The city will make available prepaid gas and transit cards, worth $150 each, for as many as 50,000 drivers and $50 for up to 100,000 transit riders. The announcement follows a possible mayoral candidate’s free gas giveaways.
As a reprieve from high inflation and gas prices, and to hopefully spur ridership back toward pre-pandemic levels, Connecticut will use $8.1 million of ARPA funds to cover public bus fares for the next three months.
In seeking support for a plan aimed at easing traffic with vehicle tolls, cities need to reach out early on to those who would be affected and address their concerns.
Bicycle and transportation researchers in Nashville, Tenn., are pointing to the growing phenomenon of electric bikes as the Music City develops its multimodal approach to transportation.
