How Much Operating Aid is Your Local Transit Agency Getting?

President Obama has signed into law a $106 billion war funding bill that includes a provision allowing local transit agencies to spend 10 percent of their stimulus money on operating costs.

That sounds good … but how much money are we actually talking about? According to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA):

  • St. Louis’ Metro system can spend up to $4.6 million in stimulus cash on operating. When added to the $7.5 million in FTA aid approved on Wednesday, that fills about one-quarter of the transit agency’s $50 million shortfall. 
  • San Francisco can spend up to $17.4 million in stimulus cash on operating. Total size of the local BART’s deficit for next year: $23 million, even after fare hikes take effect.
  • The New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area can spend up to $118.2 million in stimulus cash on transit operating. Total size of the deficit for next year at New York’s MTA alone: $1 billion.
  • Los Angeles can spend up to $38.8 million in stimulus cash on transit operating. Total size of the system’s deficit for next year: $200 million, as my colleague Damien Newton has reported.

If your home city isn’t one listed above, check out the apportionment tables available for download here.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Oakland’s Stimulus Flap: A Shot Across the Bow for Transport Equity?

By Elana Schor |
The Obama administration’s warning that the Bay Area has jeopardized federal stimulus funding for its Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) project could have national consequences for other urban transit proposals that risk harming low-income riders, civil rights and transit advocates predicted yesterday. The proposed Oakland Airport Connector train. (Photo: BART via Streetsblog SF) Several Bay Area […]

Carnahan Steps Up Push For Federal Help With Transit Operating

By Elana Schor |
While lawmakers maneuver to fill local transit agencies’ operating budget gaps with economic stimulus cash, Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) is taking it a step further with a proposal that would make federal operating aid permanent — and use it as an incentive to spur more state-level funding as well as emissions reductions. Rep. Russ Carnahan […]

Congress Agrees to Keep Transit Operating Aid in War Bill

By Elana Schor |
(Photo: Model D Media) House and Senate negotiators struck a deal last night on a $106 billion war spending bill that also gives cash-strapped transit agencies the ability to use 10 percent of their economic stimulus grants to pay operating costs. The issue of operating costs has heated up in recent weeks, with local transit […]

Bids For Federal Streetcar Aid Top Available Money by Nearly Tenfold

By Elana Schor |
After announcing $130 million in new streetcar grants in December, the Obama administration received more than $1.1 billion in applications, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) chief Peter Rogoff told lawmakers today — offering more evidence of the growing local enthusiasm for competitive transportation funding that began with the stimulus law’s TIGER grant program. New Orleans, above, […]