If Infrastructure Law Didn’t Stabilize Transit Funding— ‘What Will?’: Rick Crawford Grills Witness

6 months ago

During a House Transportation Committee hearing earlier this month, Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) questioned witnesses about financial stability for public transit agencies.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. Scribner, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided $108 billion for public

00:06transportation.

00:07That's a 77% increase over the prior FTA authorization.

00:11This funding came not long after the collection of COVID relief bills had pumped a total of

00:14nearly $70 billion in supplemental emergency funding to transit agencies.

00:20Even with those historic funding levels, many public transportation agencies now report

00:24that they will face fiscal uncertainty in the next few years.

00:28So if a once-in-a-generation funding increase didn't provide long-term financial stability

00:33for the nation's transit agencies, what will?

00:38Thank you for the question, Mr. Chairman.

00:41As I said in my opening statement and in more detail in my written testimony, I do think

00:47some of these major operational efficiencies can only be realized by trying to reduce the

00:54excessive costs of labor.

00:59We have seen the trend lines, both before the pandemic and after, continue to go down

01:08in terms of labor productivity.

01:10I think if you look globally at some of the solutions that peer or near-peer countries

01:16have adopted, especially in contracting and then on heavy rail systems, automation, I

01:22think you can realize substantial operating cost savings there and get a lot more bang

01:28for your buck.

01:29Thanks.

01:30I appreciate your insights.

01:31So Ms. Hendricks, the North American Transit Alliance is comprised of the five largest

01:36private transit contracting firms.

01:38Many transit agencies often choose to work with contractors to maximize their limited

01:42budgets to achieve a shared goal of all of us here today, improving the transit passenger

01:47experience.

01:48And when an agency engages the services of a transit contractor, it follows guidance

01:51outlined in FTA's Best Practices Manual and Lessons Learned Manual.

01:55As I understand it, FTA has not updated this guidance document since 2016.

02:00That's eight years ago and one pandemic ago.

02:04Clearly the landscape in public transportation has changed in that time.

02:07Does NATA have recommendations for how or when FTA should update this Best Practices

02:13Manual?

02:14Yes.

02:15The North American Transit Alliance, as referred to in my written testimony, would advise for

02:22an advisory committee, as I mentioned.

02:24We would also ask that the procurement process be streamlined with external input to ensure

02:31that the process is better detailed, including the metrics and the information that's required

02:39for a contractor to put a successful competitive bid together, meaning the details of the collective

02:45bargaining agreement, the scheduling, or as referred to as the run cut, the liquidated

02:50damages, and in partnership, how can we best streamline this process to open up to be more

02:56competitive and more conducive.

02:58We would also ask that the timeline to respond be conducive to all thoroughness of a competitive

03:04bid process.

03:05So we have suggested to the FTA the streamlining process, the lengths of the contract, and

03:11ways that outside input can help be more efficient and cost effective to service the communities.

03:18Thank you.

03:19And Ms. Maynard, as I mentioned in my opening statement, crime on transit systems across

03:23the country is on the rise, especially in our major cities.

03:27While the vast majority of trips on transit take place without incident, the violent nature

03:31of the attacks that I mentioned continue to fuel the perception that all public transit

03:35systems are unsafe.

03:38What policies has the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada instituted to

03:42address rider and worker safety during and since the pandemic?

03:46Chairman, thank you for that question.

03:48You know, public transit as a public space is truly the rolling microcosm of what's happening

03:55in any urban city.

03:56And if crime is increasing, if the unhoused population is increasing, if drug addiction,

04:02mental addiction, if that's increasing or it's prevalent, you're going to see it on

04:06public transit.

04:07We understand that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution for that.

04:13Public transit agencies around the United States, including the RTC, are looking at

04:17ensuring that we are making safety a priority.

04:21So whether it's for the drivers or the passengers, we're doing things like driver enclosure enhancements.

04:27We at the RTC have a GPS response button that if a driver needs something, they can literally

04:34press the button.

04:35It's GPS-based.

04:36So we know where they are on the bus or off the bus, and we can immediately respond by

04:39way of our security department.

04:40It's very important that we continue to partner with our local law enforcement, whether that's

04:44by way of an MOU or actually having them work on your system.

04:48For our customers, it's about presence.

04:50And so we have invested at the RTC in additional security officers to ensure that they are

04:56following data.

04:57You know, where the incidents may occur, that's where they are assigned.

05:01And then, again, because we are a reflection of what's happening in the urban city, we

05:06are now, many transit systems are working with the local jurisdictions with their social

05:11services to connect the folks on our system that may be unhoused, that may be veterans

05:16that are seeking medical attention, mental drug addiction.

05:22And we're finding that we have the same customer base, again, because it is part of, again,

05:26what's happening in the urban core, and trying to solve for those social ills and how they

05:32spawn the public transit is a complex problem, definitely not a one-size-fits-all solution.

05:36So it's going to be, again, ensuring that the operators are safe by way of enclosures

05:40and technology, ensuring that passengers can see enforcement efforts by law enforcers or

05:47the security officers that are employed by transit agencies, and ensuring that we are

05:52investing our time with those social services to ensure that we, again, try to help solve

05:58for a very complex problem that is not necessarily a transit problem.

06:02Thank you.

06:03Ms. Holmes-Norton.

06:04Mr. Regan, your testimony notes that too often

If Infrastructure Law Didn’t Stabilize Transit Funding— ‘What Will?’: Rick Crawford Grills Witness

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