Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
New Jersey

The Looming Transit Breakdown That Threatens America’s Economy

4:16 PM EST on November 16, 2015

transitbacklog
Categories of maintenance needs, in billions of dollars, for America's large transit agencies. Graph: RPA

While federal transit funding stagnates, the nation's largest rail and bus systems have been delaying critical maintenance projects. Without sustained efforts to fix infrastructure and vehicles, the effects of deteriorating service in big American cities could ripple across the national economy, according to a new report from the Regional Plan Association [PDF].

RPA focuses on ten of the nation's largest transit agencies -- in Boston, San Francisco, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Between them, these agencies face about $102 billion in deferred maintenance costs. To bring the systems into a state of good repair will require about $13 billion in maintenance spending per year -- more than twice the current rate of investment.

These regions house about one-fifth of the country's population and produce about 27 percent of the nation's economic output. They also carry about 60 percent of the nation's total transit ridership, up from 55 percent 20 years ago. That's a reflection of how transit has become increasingly important in these regions, with passenger trips growing 54 percent over the same period.

That level of ridership growth can't be sustained if the transit systems aren't maintained properly. RPA cites a 2012 report from San Francisco's BART that says if the system is allowed to deteriorate...

...the consequences will be drastically negative. BART’s aging infrastructure will fail more frequently, causing substantial declines in reliability and more crowding. In turn, BART ridership, which is expected to increase to half a million riders a day if current levels of service can be maintained, will stagnate or even decline.

The decline of the country's big transit systems could have wide-ranging economic consequences, deterring growth in America's most productive regions.

In 2013, about $5.4 billion in capital funding was available to these 10 agencies from the federal, state, and local governments, with another $1.9 billion coming from fares, tolls, and dedicated taxes. Of that $7.3 billion, about 80 percent, or $6 billion, was spent on maintenance, RPA reports. But even if it all went toward maintenance, that would fall far short of the $13 billion needed to repair and replace the systems' core infrastructure.

The federal government isn't about to step in. The transportation bill working its way through Washington right now will, at best, continue status-quo funding levels for transit over the next six years. If anything, the federal bill will aggravate the problem.

A late amendment from Washington Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler eliminates the "Growing State and High-Density States Funding Program," which helped deliver about $272 million in funding to some of the big transit agencies in the Northeast in particular, according to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. It's not clear whether the amendment will survive conference committee.

RPA Board Chair Lee Sander said that creating wider recognition that transit maintenance is a national problem, not just a local one, is an important first step.

"Hopefully this will give leverage to the individual transit properties… as they deal with their state legislatures and other legislative bodies," he said.

Correction: This post originally reported Jaime Herrera represented Oregon in Congress. She represents Washington.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Why We Care About Some Transportation Tragedies More Than Others

Why do we respond to major transportation disasters with so much urgency — and why don't we count our collective car crash epidemic among them?

March 28, 2024

Take Thursday’s Headlines Home, Country Roads

Heat Map reports on why rural Americans are resisting electric vehicles, and why it might not matter much for the climate.

March 28, 2024

Wednesday’s Headlines Missed Connection

The Biden administration is spending billions to reconnect neighborhoods torn apart by urban freeways. But the projects seem to simply paper over the problem, Governing reports.

March 27, 2024

Mega-Cars Violate Brooklyn Bridge Weight Ban with Impunity

The city does virtually nothing to stop the onslaught of excessively heavy vehicles on our roads and bridges.

March 27, 2024

Survey Says: American Walking Data Is Getting Worse

The National Household Travel Survey has never given a full picture of how often Americans get around on foot. But a recent change in methodology may have made made matters worse.

March 27, 2024
See all posts