Schumer Vows To Fight Tooth & Nail To Restore Funding Cuts

Statement

"The 5340 program provides critical transportation funding to New York State each year and is vital to ensuring our transit agencies, both Upstate and Downstate, have the resources they need to operate and keep passengers safe," said Schumer. "This proposed cut in funding would deal a devastating blow to transit agencies, particularly at a time when New York's infrastructure is crumbling and in need of additional funding. That is why I am going to do everything in my power to reverse these cuts and restore the program, which has been a lifeline for New York in years past and should continue to be for years to come."

In 2005, the Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act (SAFETEA) was signed into law, which established the Growing States and High Density States Formula Program (49 U.S.C. 5340), or "5340 funding." According to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), it was created to apportion additional funds to the some of the most congested and transit-dependent Urbanized Areas (UZAs) in the country, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia. However, Schumer explained this funding is currently in jeopardy because the House of Representatives adopted into its six-year transportation bill -- the Surface Transportation Reauthorization & Reform (STRRA) Act -- an amendment that would eliminate the 5340 program and instead further increase funding for a competitive bus grant program that would be disadvantageous to New York. Schumer said that while increasing the funding for discretionary programs like the bus program is widely supported, doing so by stripping funding away from Northeast states, whose transit systems move millions of people and contribute significantly to the national economy, is the wrong approach to take.

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