Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Streetsblog

Government Shutdown to End, Leaving Transit Agencies to Pick Up the Pieces

2:36 PM EDT on October 16, 2013

Congratulations, gentle Congresspeople. You have come up with a deeply flawed solution to a problem only you would create. Never mind that it set up another showdown three months from now. The good news is the government shutdown is almost over, for the moment. More than 18,000 furloughed U.S. DOT officials can return to work.

While highway work continued practically uninterrupted and more than 24,000 air traffic controllers kept the skies safe, the shutdown halted funding reimbursements to local transit agencies from both federal and state entities. The North Carolina DOT’s public transportation division ceased operations entirely, furloughing 22 federally funded positions. Stoddard County, Missouri, planned to shut down its transit system today, threatening to lay off all seven of its drivers and strand many people who depend on the service. Nearby counties appeared to be on the brink of following suit.

In California, environmental reviews were stalled and project delivery times -- which Congressional Republicans were dead set on accelerating with the last transportation bill -- were extended.

In Hampton Roads, Virginia, two transit expansion studies were halted due to the hold-up of federal support.

Moody’s Investors Service declared GARVEE bonds, issued to help fund transit, to be the single most vulnerable kind of debt in the shutdown. The name, after all, is an acronym for “Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles” -- and if you can’t anticipate any revenue from federal grants, you’re kind of screwed.

As the shutdown hit, it also sent FTA employees home early from the American Public Transportation Association’s annual meeting in Chicago. Many had gone there hoping to maximize their time with transit officials from around the country, since the sequester had slashed the agency’s travel budget and they don't get to have as many face-to-face meetings as they used to. FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff called the shutdown “maddening,” “demoralizing,” “insulting,” and “unnecessary.”

It’s unclear when furloughed employees will return to work.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Wednesday’s Headlines Ask How Much a Life Is Worth

There isn't much of a financial penalty for drivers who kill pedestrians — especially if those drivers are cops.

September 27, 2023

‘I’m Not Grieving Alone’: New Play Explores a Father’s Journey After Losing Two Children to Traffic Violence

Collin Campbell and his wife Gail Lerner lost both their children in a car crash with impaired driver. A new play explores why he

September 27, 2023

How Transit Saved Lives — And Became a Lifeline — During and After the Maui Fires

A Hawaii bus agency helped transport 42,000 people off the island in the wake of the most devastating fires in the state's history — and highlighted the critical role that shared modes can play not just in preventing climate-related disasters, but saving lives when they happen.

September 27, 2023

Tuesday’s Headlines Triple the Fun

Amtrak is staffing up and ready to spend the $66 billion it received from the bipartisan federal infrastructure law.

September 26, 2023

Pols: Congress Must Bolster Sustainable Commutes to Reduce Carbon and Congestion

The feds should bolster sustainable commuting modes and transportation demand management strategies.

September 26, 2023
See all posts