UNITED STATES: GOVERNMENT :
TRANSPORTATION: PUBLIC URBAN AND PASSENGER:
Fed to Mass Transit: Drop Dead
Fed to Mass Transit: Drop Dead
Stimulus funds have kept healthcare and education afloat. No such luck for
America's bus and light-rail riders
Editor's note: David Epstein is a reporter for ProPublica, an independent,
nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public
interest.
By David Epstein
Salon
Sunday, Jun 28, 2009
<http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/06/22/transit/>
June 22, 2009 | When the recession forced the strapped St. Louis Metro to
cut her local bus route in March, Emma Perry's freedom went along with it.
Perry, 58, uses a wheelchair because of a rare neurological disease. For
the last six years, the St. Louis Metro's Call-A-Ride program, which
provides door-to-door transit for disabled citizens -- so long as they are
within three-quarters of a mile of a normal bus route -- has granted Perry
the independence to go to the library, the movie theater, her health
center, the nursing home where she volunteered and the church where she
taught and prayed three to five times a week.
With the nearest route gone, Perry lost her Call-A-Ride service. She's now
largely homebound. "I've lost some of my independence," she says. "I'll
never get used to it."
Federal stimulus funds have swooped in to prevent service cuts to
healthcare and education, but no such remediation has been granted to
public transit. Transit systems nationwide are getting billions for new
buses and trains. According to the language of the stimulus bill, however,
the money can't be spent to run them -- to pay for operating costs like
wages and fuel. Although national mass-transit ridership is at a 50-year
high, a recent survey by the American Public Transportation Association
found that 90 percent of transit agencies have cut service or raised
fares.
"One of the difficulties is that capital funds are available," said Alane
Masui, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Regional Transit District, "but we
need to operate the buses we purchase."
On Thursday, the Senate passed a $106 billion war-funding bill with a
partial fix. The bill includes a provision allowing transit agencies to
use up to 10 percent of their stimulus money for operating costs. The
legislation will now go to President Obama for signing, even though the
transit provision has drawn criticism as shortsighted.
"To use money that was supposed to go toward infrastructure investments
for simply operating expenses is wrong," said Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa,
ranking member on the House subcommittee that controls transportation
spending. This is supposed to be a stimulus package for infrastructure,
not a bailout for local government.
------------------------------
The complete article may be read at the URL above.
Comment: With goals of the reduction of dependence on foreign oil and
reduction in the dependence on automobiles for environmental reasons, the
limited support provided by the Obama administration to the operation of
public transportation is very difficult to understand. One can read much
more about these issues and about the regeneration of Public
Transportation and rail transit on these Yahoo Groups discussion groups:
LightRail_Now
<http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/LightRail_Now/>
LRPPro Light Rail Progress Professional List
<http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/LRPPro/>
Philly_Traction
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Philly_Traction>
TheRailroadList
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheRailroadList/>
and this organization:
American Public Transportation Association
<http://www.apta.com/>
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
[log in to unmask]
<http://daviddillard.businesscard2.com>
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Twitter: davidpdillard
Bushell, R. & Sheldon, P. (eds),
Wellness and Tourism: Mind, Body, Spirit,
Place, New York: Cognizant Communication Books.
Wellness Tourism: Bibliographic and Webliographic Essay
David P. Dillard
<http://tinyurl.com/p63whl>
<http://tinyurl.com/ou53aw>
INDOOR GARDENING
Improve Your Chances for Indoor Gardening Success
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/IndoorGardeningUrban/
http://groups.google.com/group/indoor-gardening-and-urban-gardening
http://indoorgardening.jiglu.com/
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