Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Federal Funding

Why Recovery Aid Is Getting to Roads Faster Than Transit

As we reported yesterday, MAP-21 went into effect just in time for Hurricane Sandy, allowing the Federal Transit Administration similar emergency grant-making authority as FHWA. But Adam Snider at Politico reminded us this morning that the change is easier said than done.

New York's MTA can get donations from other transit agencies but the FTA's power to release grant money is hindered by Congressional budgeting processes. Photo: ##http://imgur.com/f5n6R##r/sandy @Imgur##

While U.S. DOT released $13 million yesterday to New York and Rhode Island for road repairs, the agency says FTA experts will join FEMA to assess damages and "help direct transit agencies to available federal assistance programs." Staff and equipment will also be donated by transit agencies that weren't affected by the storm. But those emergency grants that FTA has the newly-minted power to make? Not coming yet.

Politico's Snider explains why:

MAP-21 created a new “public transportation emergency relief program” that would let FTA make grants for operations, repairs, equipment and more after a natural disaster. But the [continuing resolution] passed by Congress in September extended funds from the previous DOT appropriations bill — which didn’t include the FTA emergency program because it didn’t exist yet. The bottom line: FTA can’t make emergency grants to the affected agencies along the East Coast, though several transit experts expected FEMA to help out (“...but that’s a long process,” one source wrote). Congress could always address the issue in a Sandy-related emergency appropriations package when members return in mid-November.

Mid-November is a long way away for cities and transit agencies struggling to restore mobility in the immediate aftermath of the storm. What good is emergency grant-making authority if you can't use it in the event of an emergency?

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Workers Remind Philadelphia Pols That Transit Cuts Kill

A top union boss warns that service cuts don't only inconvenience riders.

September 2, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Are For the Children

Kids used to play in the streets, but no more. Streets are for cars, and kids are confined to playgrounds.

September 2, 2025

Friday Video: The Massachusetts Company That Traded the Trash Truck For a Bike

This small worker-owned cooperative is reimagining how to do recycling, composting, yardwork and more — no diesel required.

August 29, 2025

Friday’s Deadly Headlines

Reducing our reliance on fossil fuels would bring immediate health benefits for hundreds of thousands of people.

August 29, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: The Menace of Prosperity

Daniel Wortel-London on his new book, "The Menace of Prosperity: New York City and the Struggle for Economic Development, 1875–1981."

August 28, 2025
See all posts