RTA adding two commuter routes to Williamson County

Commuters from Williamson County into Nashville are getting a new transit option come November. Today's Tennessean provides an update on the commuter routes that the folks at MTA/RTA have been hinting about for awhile now. There will be two routes, one serving Spring Hill, Thompson Station, and Franklin, and the other serving Brentwood and Franklin. Both routes will terminate at the Music City Central station. There will be park and ride lots at the stops in Williamson County. The one way fare will be $3.50. The buses will be coaches like those used on the 96X route to Murfreesboro. Those coaches include reclining seats and televisions.

The same article had an update on the BRT route on Gallatin, which is moving ahead full steam. Both projects are being partially funded using ARRA stimulus funds.

$72 million for Tennessee

A preliminary analysis by Federal Funds Information for States estimates that Tennessee will receive $72 million in transit capital grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. $51 million of that amount is for urban projects while $21 million is for rural projects. Tennessee will receive an estimated $573 million for highway and bridge projects and an overall total of $4.2 billion in ARRA money. The estimates do not include the tax incentives received by individual Tennesseans.

Update: The Economic Incentive Package and Mass Transit

Just a quick note on the status of the Senate vs. the House versions of the package as it relates to mass transit. According to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures (www.ncsl.org), the Senate version gives more money directly to Amtrak ($850 million vs. $800 million) but less in grants for intercity passenger rail ($250 million vs. $300 million). The Senate version has no money designated for Rail Modernization, while the House has $2 billion; however, the Senate version designates $2 billion for the High Speed Rail Corridor Program, so this may be just a terminology difference. Where the House breaks up its other grants between $6 billion in supplemental public transit grants, $2 billion in rail transit improvement grants, and $1 billion in New Starts grants, the Senate lumps them all together in $8.4 billion in supplemental grants for public transit. Assuming a final bill passes this week, I will post a quick snapshot of the final provisions and discuss what they might mean for Tennessee.

-Cliff

Transit and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was released last week. Many people have been speculating and waiting on the contents of the bill. The expectations were that it would contain a significant investment in our nation’s transportation infrastructure. Maybe my judgment is skewed by the large sums the government has been spending over the past few months, but the money allocated to mass transit seems quite small. It does not appear to be a major priority. The bill includes a total of $10.1 billion dollars for mass transit related projects across the country. Roads and bridge funding accounts for over $30 billion. It is not surprising that highway funding outpaces mass transit. The $10.1 billion for mass transit is broken down as follows:

New Construction: $1 billion for Capital Investment Grants for new commuter rail or other light rail systems to increase public use of mass transit and to speed projects already in construction.

Upgrades and Repair: $2 billion to modernize existing transit systems, including renovations to stations, security systems, computers, equipment, structures, signals, and communications.

Transit Capital Assistance: $6 billion to purchase buses and equipment needed to increase public transportation and improve intermodal and transit facilities.

Amtrak and Intercity Passenger Rail Construction Grants: $1.1 billion to improve the speed and capacity of intercity passenger rail service.

The Federal Transit Administration already has $2.4 billion in pre-approved projects and the American Public Transportation Association has identified 787 ready-to-go transit projects totaling $15.5 billion. The repair backlog for mass transit is estimated to be nearly $50 billion. Obviously, not all needs will be met and for the most part, we should not expect any newly proposed projects to be funded by this legislation. Especially with the short start times required by the bill. Priority will be given to projects that can award bids in 120 days. However, Nashville and the region may see some small upgrades to the existing mass transit system. We will have to wait and see what they are. For more information see the links below.

Links
Summary of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Committee on Appropriations Website (Details of Bill)
Transportation for America Analysis of Legislation

-Brian