{ "id": "R46191", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "R", "number": "R46191", "active": true, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov, EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "Reauthorization of the Federal Public Transportation Program", "retrieved": "2021-06-06T04:03:23.878353", "id": "R46191_4_2021-05-05", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2021-05-05_R46191_b993fba9985e07997ed768cab9762005065011d5.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46191/4", "sha1": "b993fba9985e07997ed768cab9762005065011d5" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2021-05-05_R46191_b993fba9985e07997ed768cab9762005065011d5.html" } ], "date": "2021-05-05", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R46191", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "Reauthorization of the Federal Public Transportation Program", "retrieved": "2021-06-06T04:03:23.877221", "id": "R46191_2_2021-01-15", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2021-01-15_R46191_1c7ad596c69cde1cd535c7c2e96b827726f68fec.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46191/2", "sha1": "1c7ad596c69cde1cd535c7c2e96b827726f68fec" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2021-01-15_R46191_1c7ad596c69cde1cd535c7c2e96b827726f68fec.html" } ], "date": "2021-01-15", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R46191", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 614591, "date": "2020-01-23", "retrieved": "2020-02-01T23:09:30.955796", "title": "Reauthorization of the Federal Public Transportation Program", "summary": "The federal public transportation program is currently authorized through FY2020 as part of the Fixing America\u2019s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (P.L. 114-94). This report highlights several major issues that may arise as Congress considers program reauthorization.\nPublic transportation includes local buses, subways, commuter rail, light rail, paratransit (often service for the elderly and disabled using small buses and vans), and ferryboat, but excludes Amtrak, intercity buses, and school buses. The FAST Act authorized $61.1 billion for five fiscal years beginning in FY2016, an average of $12.2 billion per year. Of the total amount, 80% was authorized from the mass transit account of the Highway Trust Fund, and 20% was authorized from the general fund of the U.S. Treasury. Most federal funding from the mass transit account is distributed to transit agencies through formula programs. Most of the general funding authorized is for the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) Program, also known as New Starts, which provides discretionary funding for large capital projects to create and extend rail and bus rapid transit systems.\nReauthorization issues discussed in this report include the following:\nFunding levels and the solvency of the mass transit account. Annual spending from the mass transit account is projected to exceed annual revenues by about $5 billion through FY2025. Bringing receipts and expenditures into balance would require a cut in spending of the federal transit program, an increase in revenues paid into the account, or a combination of the two. Revenue options include increasing taxes that are dedicated to the mass transit accounts and transferring money from the general fund.\nChanges to two federal loan programs that may be used for transit capital expenditures, the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program and the Railroad Rehabilitation and Infrastructure Finance (RRIF) program. Issues include TIFIA\u2019s share of project costs, the speed and cost of obtaining a loan, and the authorization of federal funding to pay the credit risk premium of RRIF loans.\nDeclining public transportation ridership. Options include linking federal formula funds to transit agencies\u2019 success in boosting ridership; redirecting CIG funding from building new rail facilities to refurbishing lines in dense cities where rail transit currently carries large numbers of riders; and funding research projects to explore partnerships between transit agencies and firms offering new mobility options such as ridesharing and bike sharing. \nFunding the CIG program. CIG has been proposed as a major source of funding for the Gateway Program, which is intended to build new rail tunnels and repair existing tunnels between New Jersey and New York. The amount sought for the Gateway Program is equal to several years of funding for CIG, at recent funding levels, and could overwhelm a program that is responsible for aiding projects throughout the country.\nPublic transportation and climate change. Congress may consider how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from surface transportation and adaptation provisions that aim to make the public transportation system more resilient. Options considered might include dedicated funding for resilience projects and greater funding for buying low and no emission buses.\nBuy America. This law places domestic content restrictions on federally funded transportation projects, including procurement of rolling stock. Issues that might arise include the share of components and subcomponents that have to be domestically sourced, the availability of waivers, and the standardization of requirements across modes.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R46191", "sha1": "0b6cc692a7cc045e153174617c40bd849cb0d09f", "filename": "files/20200123_R46191_0b6cc692a7cc045e153174617c40bd849cb0d09f.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R46191_files&id=/1.png": "files/20200123_R46191_images_41850c65a4d72214ccde527382667118c1e884da.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R46191_files&id=/0.png": "files/20200123_R46191_images_328bb00c6958ffb792080c6582b22d3210119e92.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R46191", "sha1": "36bb42bc73161f06158dec061ab2f75fe09e598e", "filename": "files/20200123_R46191_36bb42bc73161f06158dec061ab2f75fe09e598e.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4800, "name": "Public Transit & Passenger Rail" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4867, "name": "Transportation Funding" } ] } ], "topics": [ "National Defense", "Transportation Policy" ] }