The federal transportation program (SAFETY-LU) expires in September. And it’s a good think that change is coming to Washington, because the program is broke. The gas tax doesn’t bring in nearly enough money to fund transit and highways (last year Congress spent $8 billion out of general revenue to prop up highway spending — no more money for transit, unfortunately) and the way the feds allocate money is relatively thoughtless.
So things are going to change in transportation policy. The big question is how. And the best transit agencies and allies will be helping to shape policy from home and in D.C. rather than waiting and hope to see what happens.
I’m an advocate of transit getting a big piece of the stimulus program that Congress and President-Elect Obama are working on now. I’m not sure that there will be a gas tax increase next year so I wouldn’t count on federal money flowing into transit in 2009 from the transportation program.
But it’s also smart to start thinking about the transportation program, and the National Journal Online has invited leading experts and elected officials like Mary Peters, Norm Mineta, Tim Kaine and others to weigh in on what the transportation program should look like. Thanks to TransitTalent’s fantastic email service for the link to National Journal. Check it out.
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