Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions - S. 2506

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

By Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. SANTORUM):

S. 2506. A bill to amend title 49, United States Code, to allow additional transit systems greater flexibility with certain mass transportation projects; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that will restore flexibility to small communities in the use of Federal transit funding. As chairman of the Senate's Surface Transportation Subcommittee, I recognize the value of mass transit. Public transit is the first choice of transportation for many Americans. Local options such as buses, light rail and subways are affordable, friendly to the environment, and reduce traffic congestion.

I know the limited availability of Federal funds for the Nation's extensive transportation needs requires creative solutions.
For this reason, I have introduced this bill to correct an inequity in current law. The 1998 TEA-21 bill phased out operating assistance for mass transit except in small communities, using a population of 200,000 as the benchmark. Nationwide, more than 30 cities that are generally considered small transit communities because they operate fewer than 100 buses at peak hours exceeded that threshold in the 2000 Census. In Texas, the city of Lubbock is caught in this discrepancy. The 2000 Census also treated metropolitan areas composed of two or more adjacent cities as one statistical unit, and many of these units, such as Denton and Lewisville in Texas, subsequently ceased to qualify as small transit communities without increasing the size of their transit systems.

This bill would allow the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to a transit system for mass transportation operating costs in an urbanized area with a population of more than 200,000 if such transit system operates less than 100 buses. Smaller communities have always relied on Federal operating assistance for public transportation. Although bus systems may generate profits, the revenues of such limited offerings are not enough to finance administrative and other overhead costs not associated with capital purchases.

While Congress works to reauthorize highway and other surface transportation programs for another 6 years, the need for this technical correction cannot be ignored. To ensure quality mass transit in States, small transit communities operating fewer than 100 buses should be permitted to use Federal funding as needed for capital investments or operating expenses.

I am proud to offer this bill that provides an important correction for small transit systems, and I urge my colleagues to support it. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

S. 2506

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the "Transit System Flexibility Protection Act of 2004".

SEC. 2. GENERAL AUTHORITY.

Section 5307(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end of the following:

"The Secretary may make grants under this section to a transit system to finance the operating cost of equipment and facilities for use in mass transportation in an urbanized area with a population of more than 200,000 if such transit system operates less than 100 buses on fixed route service during peak service hours.".