U.S. House adds nearly $2 billion for public transport

Published 9:42 pm Thursday, June 26, 2008

WASHINGTON — As commuters increasingly turn to bus and rail lines because of soaring gas prices, public transit is finally getting respect — and money.

In an effort to make riding bus and rail lines even more appealing, the House on Thursday moved to provide $1.7 billion to help transit agencies pay increased fuel costs, keep down fares and expand service.

That’s on top of a record $10 billion — a $1 billion increase — that a congressional committee recently recommended for expanding transit nationwide in the next year. A bipartisan measure also has been introduced to expand tax credits to encourage more workers to ride public transit.

“Americans are flocking onto mass transit at rates not seen in half a century in the United States,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.

The new appreciation for public transit comes as lawmakers have scrambled for ways to respond to high gas prices. But as they head home for the July 4 recess, a number of representatives are worried about facing voters without a better energy record.

Although the transit measure passed overwhelmingly, on a 322-98 vote, some Republican lawmakers ridiculed it as a poor substitute for expanded domestic oil drilling.

Rep. Frank D. Lucas, R-Okla., complained that his constituents not only must pay higher gas prices, “but now they have to subsidize people in big cities with the luxury of access to public transportation.”

Last year, public transit recorded its highest number of trips in 50 years. During the first quarter of this year, ridership on light-rail lines rose 10 percent while vehicle miles traveled on the nation’s roads declined 2.3 percent.

“We’re loving our transit systems to death,” DeFazio said, noting that higher fuel costs and increased demand for service are straining transit agencies’ budgets.

Support for public transit, long regarded as secondary to highway funding, comes as Congress appears poised to reject President Bush’s effort to take money from mass transit to help erase a projected deficit in the federal highway trust fund.

The money promised by the House bill passed Thursday is still in the offing. The Senate has yet to act. The Bush administration opposed the bill but stopped short of threatening a veto.