Soaring Transit Subsidies Must Be Controlled

Highlights

The demand for mass transit subsidies is approaching crisis proportions. A study was performed to determine why the demand for transit operating subsidies is growing, what can be done to control subsidy growth, and what improvements are needed in the federal transit operating assistance program.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter	Status	Comments
Congress should amend the Urban Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1964 to give governors the authority to reallocate section 5 surpluses from urbanized areas with populations between 50,000 and 200,000 to other larger urbanized areas within the state that need the funds.	Closed	Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Congress should reconsider the 1974 legislative finding that the continued increase in fares is undesirable and adopt a goal for the section 5 program that promotes efficient and equitable transit pricing.	Closed	Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of Transportation	The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Urban Mass Transit Authority (UMTA) Administrator to develop and undertake specific actions to improve transit productivity.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Transportation	The Secretary of Transportation should require the appropriate organizations, in their transportation plans, to: (1) establish local goals for the proportion of short and long term costs that fare revenue should cover; and (2) assess the efficiency and equity of present fares and examine alternative fare structures that might better reflect equity and cost.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Transportation	The Secretary of Transportation should require the UMTA Administrator to issue a fare-policy statement indicating that UMTA desires local areas to give greater consideration to passenger fares as a revenue source and to developing efficient and equitable fare policies.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Transportation	The Secretary of Transportation should require the UMTA Administrator to: (1) require that annual governors' reports be submitted before the governor allocates the apportionments; and (2) provide guidance to regional offices on their responsibilities for monitoring the allocation and use of apportionments by state governors to ensure that such resources are being used efficiently.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Labor	The Secretary of Labor should review the typing workload associated with certifying operating grant application requests subject to the model agreement and either (1) obtain additional typing help or (2) seek alternatives to formal typing such as using form letters with handwritten inserts and notifying UMTA informally after Labor decides to certify a grant rather than waiting for a formal certification letter to be typed.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Transportation	The Secretary of Transportation should direct the UMTA Administrator to give priority to determining the amount of apportionments available to urbanized areas and state governors and ensuring that these apportionments are properly accounted for.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Transportation	The Secretary of Transportation should direct the UMTA Administrator to improve headquarters oversight and supervision of regional office section 5 activities by: (1) ensuring that adequate program guidance is issued to UMTA regions for all section 5 and related responsibilities; (2) establishing time standards for processing section 5 operating grant applications and obtaining the data needed to monitor regional office adherence to these standards; and (3) providing formal training in administrative procedures for regional staff responsible for section 5 program activities.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Transportation	The Secretary of Transportation should direct the UMTA Administrator to give top priority to determining the agency's needs for automated information systems, initiating appropriate action to fulfill these needs, and ensuring that the agency efficiently uses existing automated information systems.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Transportation	The Secretary of Transportation should direct the UMTA Administrator to ensure that section 5 grants are promptly closed out and the remaining grant balances are deobligated and either lapsed or reapportioned. The existing backlog of projects eligible for closeout should be processed as quickly as possible to avoid having funds remain idle and lapse unnecessarily.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Transportation	The Secretary of Transportation should direct the UMTA Administrator to develop and issue policy guidelines defining the UMTA role and responsibilities in encouraging transit productivity.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.

See All 10 Recommendations

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Topics

Transportation

Cost controlFederal aid for transportationFederal fundsMass transit fundingMass transitOverhead costsSubsidiesTransportation costsGovernment subsidiesBudget deficit