Public Transit

The deal that averted a federal government shutdown last week will eliminate $1.5 billion in high-speed rail money, Department of Transportation officials confirmed to The Hill Monday afternoon.

A short-term continuing resolution was approved late last Friday to avoid a shutdown of the federal government, but legislative language is being drafted in both chambers for a bill that would fund the government through the end of September. Details emerged Monday showing the Obama administration's push for high-speed rail was on the chopping block.

Congress had appropriated $2.5 billion for high-speed rail last year, but House Republicans were intent on cutting at least $1 billion of it from the moment they took control of the chamber this year.

DOT told The Hill that the cut will not affect grants that have already been given. However, the amount available is a far cry from the $53 billion the Obama administration has included in its six-year transportation bill proposal that Republicans have already indicated is unlikely to move forward.

The General Accountability Office (GAO) said Monday the Obama administration did not make clear enough why it selected the high-speed rail projects that won billions of dollars in federal funding.  
 
A GAO report released Monday said the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) should have provided additional documentation showing how it selected some projects over others when it awarded $8 billion in high-speed rail money included in the 2009 economic stimulus package.
 
That may have played a role in three Republican governors turning down rail money this year, the GAO report said.  
 
"FRA established a fair and objective approach for distributing these funds and substantially followed recommended discretionary grant award practices used throughout the government," the report said. "The exception is what we view as incomplete documentation of why some applications were chosen and not others, and how FRA decided to distribute the funds at the time those decisions were made.”

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Colorado is looking at creating a regional transit system.

Washington state wants some of Florida's rejected high-speed rail money.

Arkansas is reviewing the condition of its roads.

Kansas is considering raising its speed limits too.

The national passenger rail service would continue running trains even if the federal government shuts down Friday, officials from Amtrak said.
 
"Amtrak will continue normal operation of its national intercity and high-speed passenger rail network in the event of a short-term federal government shutdown," the company said in a statement.
 
"Passengers planning to travel on Amtrak trains in the Northeast Corridor and across the country in the coming days and weeks can be assured that Amtrak will remain open for business," the Amtrak statement said.

If the federal government shuts down at midnight Friday, transit grants — including those that have already been awarded — would be held up, the Federal Transit Administration said.

The agency is one of many in Washington preparing for a possible federal shutdown. Its administrator, Peter Rogoff, said even funding grants that have already been awarded, but were being paid in parts, would be put on hold.

"As soon as funding lapses, FTA will not be permitted to incur further financial obligations," Rogoff said in a "Dear Colleague" letter. "This means FTA will neither obligate grants nor make payments to grantees. For projects under development, FTA staff will not carry out environmental, legal, civil rights, and other reviews essential for advancing projects to the point of obligation since these are not related to immediate issues of life and safety."

Gov. Rick Scott dismissed nose-diving poll numbers and defended his rejection of federal funds for high-speed rail.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

They're putting the pedal to the metal in Texas.

Pennsylvania is another one of the 24 states that wants the high-speed rail money Florida didn't.

A California commuter rail gets a budget reprieve.

West Virginia is considering rail too.

Amtrak had more riders in March than it has had in any March in its 40 years of existence, the company said Thursday.
 
There were 137,000 more Amtrak riders this past month, the company said, which was the 17th straight month of increased ridership. That puts the company on track to break its annual ridership record, which was 28.7 million last year, Amtrak said.
 
From the first six months of the current fiscal year, October 2010 to March 2011, Amtrak ridership was up 5.9 percent over the same period from 2009 to 2010, the company said. 

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Virginia transportation officials do not dig plans to build a new Washington MetroRail stop at Dulles Airport underground.

Minnesota commuters will have to deal with $900 million worth of road construction projects this year.

It was supporters' turn to be heard in the debate over what to do with federal high-speed rail money North Carolina already has in mind.

The N.C. Department of Transportation isn't waiting for the argument over railways to be resolved before asking for more money.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday that 24 states turned in applications for some or all of the $2.4 billion in high-speed rail money that was recently turned down by Florida.

There were 90 applications in total, including proposals from Amtrak and Washington, D.C. LaHood said the volume proves that Florida's lack of interest in building new railways was not indicative of the rest of the country's mood about the proposals.

“Today, we are another step closer to delivering an innovative, national transportation network that brings new jobs and economic opportunity to the American people," LaHood said in a statement.