California Transit Association

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California Transit Association

• Authorization Recommendations

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Federal Transportation Authorization Principles

• Overarching Principles
• The California Transit Association.
• Supports maintaining a strong federal leadership
  role in transportation financing.
• Supports key elements of the current surface
  transportation program.
• Supports continuation of guaranteed funding
  levels for transit and highway programs.

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Federal Transportation Authorization Principles

• 4. Supports continuation of the Mass Transit
  Account as a separate account within the Highway
  Trust Fund.
• 5.Supports continuation of the Mass Transit
  Account as a separate account within the Highway
  Trust Fund.
• 6.Supports authorizing individual transit
  programs at increased funding levels that are
  sufficient to address current and future needs.

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Federal Transportation Authorization Principles

• 7.Supports authorizing increased funding levels
  for transit-eligible programs under the Highway
  Program.
• 8.Supports the retention of a central formula
  program supplemented by discretionary programs.
• 9.Supports the need to address the movement of
  Rail/truck movement of goods, especially on
  shared infrastructure.

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Federal Transportation Authorization Principles

• 10.Supports an Authorization Bill of six years in
  duration.
• 11.Supports workforce development initiatives
  including transit specific training programs
  through local community colleges and similar
  educational institutions.
• 12.Supports the need to provide additional
  federal transportation funding for strategies and
  projects designed to reduce greenhouse gas
  emissions.

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Federal Transportation Authorization Principles

• Program/Regulatory Issues
• The California Transit Association.
• 1.Supports maintaining operating assistance
  flexibility
• for those urbanized areas moving from less than
  200,000 to more than 200,000 population
• 2.Supports continuation of the Small Transit
  Intensive Cities Program and supports equalizing
  the value of qualification in each of the 6
  areas.
• 3.Supports the transfer of the Intercity Bus
  Program set aside to a more flexible
  discretionary program.

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Federal Transportation Authorization Principles

• 4. Supports streamlining the federal audit
  requirements and the triennial review process
  including allowing concurrent state and federal
  audits.
• 5. Supports development of guidelines defining
  the areas of grant applications that are eligible
  for comment by Labor Organizations as a part of
  the grant review process.
• 6. Supports reforms to the FTA New Starts rating
  process that uses a multi-measure approach,
  including land use and economic benefits
  analysis, significant local resource commitments,
  limiting cost effectiveness criteria to the
  federal share, and segregates the New Starts
  rating from the Record of Decision process.

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Federal Transportation Authorization Principles

• 7. Supports rewarding transit systems for efforts
  in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• 8. Supports the continuation of the ability to
  transfer CMAQ and RSTP funds from FHWA to FTA.
• 9. Supports continuing to allow Federal Formula
  Funds to be used for preventive maintenance
  expenses.

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Federal Transportation Authorization Principles

• 10.Supports the development of a process for
  Regional Planning Agencies to consider the needs
  of all eligible transit operators in a region
  when allocating federal funds.
• 11.Supports the continuation of the eligibility
  of contracted paratransit costs to be paid for
  using 5310 funds.
• 12.Supports a strong federal commitment using new
  funding for transit security costs.

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Federal Transportation Authorization Principles

• 13.Supports that FTA be required to review the
  recently issued charter and school bus
  regulations to remove onerous provisions which
  prevent transit systems from fairly serving their
  communities.
• 14.Supports the elimination of the requirement
  that a Small Start project operating cost cannot
  exceed 5 of the agencys operating budget.
• 15.Supports the greatest possible representation
  of transit agencies in the transportation
  planning process conducted by MPO's