The Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska Transit Associations hosted Scott Bogren, Executive Director of CTAA, on the future of Transit on the federal front on Oct. 21. Bogren underscored the importance of telling the local stories of transit’s impact from a values and outcomes perspective including from the private sector partners.
CTAA’s membership is largely comprised of small and rural transit providers. Bogren indicated it is critical to reduce the match for rural operating from 50/50 to 80/20 to ensure continued successful operations across the country for these providers. CTAA’s focus has been on reauthorization, Senate Banking Committee Rural Transit Bill which codifies the 80:20 rural transit operating assistance ask, and House and Senate stand-alone bills increasing small urban (STIC) set aside. Bogren stressed the first bill coming out of the House may not even include funding levels and may not necessarily be what is seen in the final law- it is a set of proposals.
Key transition issues with new administration discussed included:
- Discretionary grants and rescissions.
- Master agreements.
- Formula vs. competitive.
- Bus Capital.
- The Fiscal Cliff.
When asked what providers and stakeholders can do to move the needle on transit funding and support, Bogren underscored the importance of telling the transit narrative – including safety records i.e. how many millions of miles without incidents; private sector impact; economic impact and efficiency levels.
Would you rather listen to the webinar as a podcast? Access the episode below or download it here.
Access Scott Bogren’s slide deck here
