WASHINGTON, DC – The Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority (RIPTA) stands to lose over $8.5 million a year in federal funding thanks to a little-noticed amendment to the transportation bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week.  The Herrera-Beutler Amendment to the surface transportation bill was approved by the House on November 5, 2015.  It would eliminate essential federal formula funding (Section 5340 High-Density) for Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.  These seven states provide over half of all public transportation trips in the United States.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed, who currently serves as the Ranking Member of the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Subcommittee, and was the driving force for developing the current high-density public transportation formula back in 2005, is helping to lead the charge to prevent the high-density mass-transit funds from being diverted to other areas.  Reed wants to ensure the House language that would cut funding for Rhode Island and the northeast is not included in the final package that must still be ironed out by the House and Senate.

“This loss of funding would have a devastating impact on Rhode Island’s public transportation system and I am working to prevent the House’s short-sighted cuts from taking hold.  Public transportation helps drive our economy.  With more Rhode Islanders depending on public transportation, we need to ensure RIPTA has the resources to provide safe, efficient, and reliable service,” said Reed, who also serves on the Senate Banking Committee, which is responsible for authorizing urban mass transit systems. 

Reed and several colleagues are sending a letter to the conferees on the bill urging them to recede to the Senate position regarding Section 5340 transit apportionments. This formula provides a core investment for some of the most congested and transit dependent Urbanized Areas (UZAs) in the country. The amendment would take money away from transit agencies in these states to increase funding for a competitive grant program that is designed to help transit agencies acquire new buses and bus garages and maintenance facilities.

“We should have a well-funded competitive bus grant program, but it cannot be financed by cutting back on existing commitments to transit systems ” said Reed. “That approach will decimate transit service and make systems less safe for travelers in the Northeast.  The truth is that we need to increase the annual investment in transit, highways, and rail if we are going to make progress in improving service and fixing roads and bridges.”

Reed is among Senate leaders calling on transportation bill conferees to increase the amount of funding provided each year rather than simply stretching resources over several years without a providing an investment that will lead to improvements in our transportation infrastructure. 

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