[Senate Hearing 117-735]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 117-735
ADVANCING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN SMALL CITIES AND RURAL PLACES UNDER
THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION, AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
BANKING,HOUSING,AND URBAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
EXAMINING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN SMALL CITIES AND RURAL PLACES UNDER
THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW
__________
APRIL 6, 2022
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
53-390 PDF WASHINGTON : 2023
COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio, Chairman
JACK REED, Rhode Island PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama
JON TESTER, Montana MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
MARK R. WARNER, Virginia TIM SCOTT, South Carolina
ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland THOM TILLIS, North Carolina
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
TINA SMITH, Minnesota BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
JON OSSOFF, Georgia JERRY MORAN, Kansas
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota
STEVE DAINES, Montana
Laura Swanson, Staff Director
Brad Grantz, Republican Staff Director
Cameron Ricker, Chief Clerk
Shelvin Simmons, IT Director
Pat Lally, Hearing Clerk
______
Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
TINA SMITH, Minnesota, Chair
MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota, Ranking Republican Member
JACK REED, Rhode Island RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
JON TESTER, Montana BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada CYNTHIA LUMMIS, Wyoming
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland JERRY MORAN, Kansas
JON OSSOFF, Georgia KEVIN CRAMER, North Dakota
RAPHAEL WARNOCK, Georgia STEVE DAINES, Montana
Tim Everett, Subcommittee Staff Director
Kathleen Gayle, Republican Subcommittee Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022
Page
Opening statement of Chair Smith................................. 1
Prepared statement........................................... 19
Opening statements, comments, or prepared statements of:
Senator Rounds................................................... 3
Prepared statement........................................... 20
WITNESSES
Ryan Daniel, CEO, St. Cloud Metro Bus............................ 5
Prepared statement........................................... 21
Scott Bogren, Executive Director, Community Transportation
Association of America......................................... 7
Prepared statement........................................... 23
Responses to written questions of:
Senator Tester........................................... 31
Senator Warnock.......................................... 33
Baruch Feigenbaum, Senior Managing Director, Transportation
Policy, Reason Foundation...................................... 9
Prepared statement........................................... 27
Additional Material Supplied for the Record
Letter submitted by Joung Lee, Deputy Director--Chief Policy
Officer, AASHTO................................................ 36
(iii)
ADVANCING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN SMALL CITIES AND RURAL PLACES UNDER
THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW
----------
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs,
Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community
Development,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met at 2:31 p.m., via Webex and in room
538, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Tina Smith,
Chairwoman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIR TINA SMITH
Chair Smith. Good afternoon. The Subcommittee on Housing,
Transportation, and Community Development will come to order.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is about fixing
the problems that Americans encounter every day. It represents
the largest long-term investment in our Nation's infrastructure
and competitiveness in a generation, and it is also going to
create millions of good paying jobs with benefits. Just as
important, it will make a direct and immediate impact on the
lives of Americans. It is exactly the kind of thing that
Washington ought to be spending time on and exactly the kind of
thing that we came to the Senate to get done. So today's
hearing will focus on how the Infrastructure and Jobs Act is
supporting transit in small cities and rural areas and how we
can make sure that it works.
In June of 2021, this Subcommittee convened a bipartisan
hearing to highlight the transit needs in rural communities,
and we had excellent testimony from leaders from Minnesota,
South Dakota, and Native communities as well. That hearing
helped us to understand the issues facing rural transit
providers, including how rural and tribal formula grant
programs need funding boosts in order to meet the changing
needs of their communities.
We also held a hearing in Minnesota last summer to
understand the transit needs in our State, my State, and I
heard from cities like Rochester about their use of competitive
transit grants to expand bus service and support projects like
the Destination Medical Center.
In August of this last year, the Senate passed the historic
bipartisan infrastructure law, which boosted annual funding for
rural transit. To give you an idea, this law is the largest
investment in transit in a generation. In the first year of
this new law, transit formula grants will jump 30 percent and
continue to grow after that. This is an incredible opportunity
for transit in small cities and rural places all over America.
So now we turn to implementation. Our Committee's job is to
provide oversight and to make sure that this historic
investment is working as Congress intended. Already, the
Federal Transit Administration has gone to work to cut through
red tape and to get funding out to communities as quickly as
possible. In fact, the FTA announced just today that this year
my home State of Minnesota will receive $166 million in transit
funds through the formula programs.
The FTA also recently issued something called a NOFA, or
Notice of Funding Availability, for two bus grant programs that
simplified the paperwork transit agencies are required to fill
out. Now this is important. This will make these grants more
accessible for smaller operators who honestly do not have huge
grant writing teams or even any grant writing teams on staff
some of the time.
The FTA has also held dozens of webinars and calls with
transit agencies to provide technical support and to answer
questions about the exciting opportunities that are available
under this new law.
So today, we want to hear from our panel about the impact
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will have on transit
in small cities and rural places. We want to know what
implementation issues we should keep an eye on and how this
Committee and the Federal Government can help support local
creativity and innovation in rural transit.
Here is just one example. During the pandemic, Minnesota
transit systems innovated and served as a lifeline for
families. Minnesota was one of the first States to use transit
to bring vaccines home to people. Tri-CAP, which serves the
five-county area around St. Cloud, provided reverse transit,
bringing medications and other necessities to people,
especially the elderly, who would not have been able to access
them otherwise. This is the type of innovation that smaller
transit operators can do, and we ought to be thinking about how
we in Congress can support this kind of work.
So rural and small city transit systems are leading the
way, innovating with on-demand service, specialized routes, and
routes that connect people to specific destinations. Today, we
are going to have a chance to learn how this is going and how
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act can support this
innovation. As we listen to the panel of rural transit leaders
today, I ask you to keep in mind the veteran who needs to get
to a VA clinic or the person who is trying to get back on their
feet by completing job training or a senior who is looking
forward to their weekly fresh produce delivery.
Three years ago, Senator Rounds and I teamed up with
Senator Fischbach from Nebraska and Senator Baldwin from
Wisconsin to create the Rural Economy Working Group, and our
goal was to highlight the strengths and assets in diverse rural
communities and to learn from our rural leaders about how the
Federal Government can be a better partner, a good partner, in
supporting their leadership.
We know that small cities and towns and rural places
produce our food and energy and are hubs of manufacturing and
entrepreneurship, education, health care, arts, culture, and we
need these communities to work for everyone, and that means
transportation has to work. And for transportation to work, we
need to see viable, efficient, well-functioning transit
systems, buses, paratransit, and on-demand services, to name a
few.
And now with the rising gas prices caused by this terrible
and brutal invasion of Ukraine by Putin, we can see how
important it is to move rapidly to clean energy and renewable
fuels. When it comes to clean energy, the United States can
lead or we can follow, and I want us to lead. I also want to
see opportunities for electric vehicles and low-carbon
renewables like ethanol and biodiesel, which is so important in
Minnesota, to be available in Greater Minnesota and in rural
places all over America.
The fact is rural transit providers are full of great ideas
for how to meet the needs of communities when it comes to
mobility, and we need to listen. So I look forward to our
witnesses today, from hearing about how the Federal Government
could be a good partner in delivering on the promise of the
bipartisan infrastructure bill in smaller cities and rural
areas.
And I want to thank Senator Rounds and his staff for
working with us on this important hearing and for his
partnership on all these issues.
Thank you, Senator Rounds, and I recognize you now for an
opening statement.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR MIKE ROUNDS
Senator Rounds. Thank you, Madam Chair, and most certainly
we appreciate the opportunity to work with you in addressing
rural issues. And, in particular, this is one that I think
affects our States in the Midwest just as it does States
throughout the country but very important that we address this
and we make sure that the dollars are spent in an appropriate
fashion.
I want to begin by also thanking our witnesses for taking
the time to attend today's hearing and to share their expertise
with us.
Last year, President Biden signed into law the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which allocated an
unprecedented amount of taxpayer dollars to transit systems
across the country. This law provided a 67 percent increase in
annual Federal funding for public transportation when compared
to the annual amount provided in the previous authorization.
This is not including the $69.5 billion for transit in the
response to COVID-19 nor the $340 million provided through the
Public Transportation Relief Program.
Now of the $108 billion authorized and appropriated through
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for public
transportation, it is important to note that just $4.56 billion
was allocated for the rural formula program all the while
States like New York and California are estimated to receive
$11 billion and $10 billion, respectively.
With this investment comes a need for critical oversight to
make certain that this money is spent on fixes that will make
the most impact. Therefore, as we move to implement this
legislation, it is important to discuss the challenges facing
rural communities in offering safe, affordable, and reliable
methods of transportation.
Rural areas cover 97 percent of U.S. land area, and most
rural residents still rely on their own vehicles as their main
means of transportation. Overall, rural residents travel about
33 percent more, rural workers travel 38 percent more, and
lower-income rural workers, 59 percent more annual miles than
those in urban areas. Rural residents spend more time and money
on transportation and are more vulnerable to transportation
problems like vehicle maintenance issues, they lose their
ability to drive, or fuel prices spike as they have right now.
Therefore, rural roads are heavily traveled and critical
for maintaining the way of life in South Dakota and the rest of
rural America. The frequency of travel on some of these rural
roads has further increased over the past years as tourism has
become a growing business in the rural U.S. Most of the
country's national parks are located in rural regions, like Mt.
Rushmore in South Dakota, which draws a large number of
visitors each year.
In addition, with agriculture dominating most rural
communities, much of the Nation's food industry relies on the
transportation of products over long distances on rural roads
and highways. The safety and structural integrity of these
roads is important to maintain an interconnected transportation
system.
With few communities in South Dakota having an actual fixed
route bus system, a majority of rural transit offerings are
modes of paratransit, which provide transportation for the
elderly and/or persons with disabilities. Roughly 31 percent of
the populations in rural communities are either elderly or
disabled, and these two demographics within a community often
need transportation services for doctor's appointments or to
complete grocery shopping. Due to the need to travel long
distances, driver shortages, and lower ridership, providing on
demand rides in rural areas can be extremely expensive.
As we implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,
I think we should explore ways to utilize public-private
partnerships to make local, State, and Federal dollars go
further. We should also be looking at new ways to use
technology. Just as an example, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota,
the Sioux Area Metro, known as SAM, is trying out a SAM On
Demand phone app which allows riders to request rides on their
smartphones to increase ridership and efficiency.
During implementation of the infrastructure law, it is also
critical to reduce the regulatory burden as much as possible
for the truly small communities around the country. In South
Dakota and in rural Minnesota, our rural transit agencies
servicing small towns do not have the capacity to wade through
endless red tape. Rural communities must have the freedom to
use the funding in ways that serve them, not be forced into a
one size fits all approach. To manage these issues, resources
must be allocated to the most vital areas of the transport
system, and I think our Subcommittee should remain focused on
the oversight of those resources.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today and
learning more about ways rural America can best utilize the
resources of the infrastructure law.
And I would simply close by thanking our Chairman for
having this meeting today. I think it is important that we
start out on the right area and focus appropriately on the
funding that is available and where it is going to. Thank you,
Madam Chair.
Chair Smith. Thank you, Senator Rounds.
I am now going to introduce our witnesses. Thank you so
much for being with us today. I will introduce all three of you
and then turn to each of you in turn to make your opening
statements.
Ryan Daniel is the Chief Executive Officer of St. Cloud
Metro Bus in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Mr. Daniel also serves as
President of the Minnesota Public Transit Association.
And I would like to note that he is accompanied today by
St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis--it is good to see you, Mayor--and
also Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, CEO, Luther Wynder.
Thank you for being with us.
Scott Bogren is the Executive Director of the Community
Transportation Association of America. Thank you very much for
being with us.
And, Baruch Feigenbaum is the Senior Managing Director for
Transportation Policy at the Reason Foundation.
Welcome and thank you all for being with us today, and we
look forward to your testimony.
You may each begin--before you begin your opening
statements, just a few reminders. For witnesses, you will have
5 minutes for your opening statements. Your full written
statement will be made part of the record. And for witnesses
and Senators in the hearing room, the light in front of you, as
you know, will turn yellow when you have 1 minute remaining and
red when your time is up. I am sure we will be able to manage
with our time constraints.
Thank you very much, and I will turn now to our first
witness.
STATEMENT OF RYAN DANIEL, CEO, ST. CLOUD METRO BUS
Mr. Daniel. Thank you, Madam Chair, for this opportunity to
testify regarding the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act and its impact on smaller transit systems. I am
testifying today as Chief Executive Officer of St. Cloud Metro
Bus and also as President of the Minnesota Public Transit
Association, which includes transit systems throughout the
State, urban, suburban, and rural.
First, I would like to express our deep appreciation for
the increased funding provided in the IIJA law. The 30 percent
increase in formula funds, as well as for programs like the bus
and bus facility program, will make a huge difference as
transit systems continue to rebuild and serve a growing number
of riders in the wake of the pandemic. The impact of this law
for St. Cloud Metro Bus and other transit systems will be
expanding higher quality transit service over the next 5 years.
Knowing the level of funding we will have allows all transit
systems to plan efficiently and allows us to provide stable bus
service to our customers.
I would also like to thank the Federal Transit
Administration for its work in communicating with transit
systems and working hard to get the money delivered as quickly
as possible. Many of the transit system managers in Minnesota
have participated in webinars and had questions answered by the
detailed information provided by the FTA.
The Notice of Funding Opportunity issued for the no-low
emission bus program allows transit systems the opportunity to
apply for funds that will expand their fleets while protecting
the environment. Metro Bus has been transitioning our fleet to
low-emissions CNG since 2014. We are proud to say we are now 90
percent CNG. With additional funding opportunities such as the
no-low emission program, in the next 5 years, our organization
is planning to apply for funds to replace a large majority of
our CNG bus fleet, which will reach its useful life in 2026.
According to the American Public Transit Association's
calculation, we will be getting additional formula funds. With
this increase in funds, Metro Bus will be in a better position
to attract safe, reliable transit operators, allowing us to
maintain and possibly expand our service as well as keep up
with technological advances in the industry and the overall
workforce, moving into a new post-pandemic world.
In rural areas of Minnesota, residents who ride our buses
often have no other option for getting to important medical
appointments, jobs, school, family events, and to access
services. For example, Betty in Worthington uses Community
Transit to get to medical appointments, the hair salon, and
weekly shopping trips. Without this bus service, she would have
a hard time living in her own home and would probably need to
leave her community to live in a larger city that had transit
service available.
Unfortunately, Community Transit has limited service hours
and capacity to meet all of the needs of residents in the nine
county service area that it covers. We appreciate the focus of
IIJA on providing resources to underserved areas. Smaller
communities struggle to pay for weekend or evening service, but
residents need to get to important destinations after 4 or 5 in
the afternoon. As decisions are made about allocating
discretionary dollars provided through the IIJA, we urge FTA to
follow through on prioritizing areas that currently leave many
people without the level of transit service they need.
Rural communities also struggle to generate funding to meet
local match requirements to access State and Federal funds. We
applaud your work, Madam Chair, along with Senator Rounds, to
pass the Investments in Rural Transit Act to reduce the need to
charge local residents more in order to access additional
transit resources in areas with lower densities and lower
incomes. The new law's focus on modernizing the fleet is very
important. Many of our systems in Minnesota find themselves
running buses with over 250,000 miles due to difficulties in
purchasing new buses. As systems struggle to keep older
vehicles operating, the maintenance costs increase while
dependability decreases. Any assistance that can be provided in
helping systems purchase new vehicles will make a big
difference in the impact that the IIJA in the short term
improving transit service.
Another important issue for smaller transit systems in the
implementation of this law is the technical assistance. Rural
systems, with a small number of staff, have a hard time dealing
with new reporting or planning requirements and developing
funding applications without some additional technical
assistance. Some systems in Minnesota have been successful in
securing competitive funding for new buses or facilities in the
past, but most systems are stretched thin and do not have the
capacity to careful track all funding opportunities and
effectively compete for new funding. Any resources that can be
provided to help smaller systems apply for a variety of funding
sources will be greatly appreciated.
The additional stable funding provided by the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will allow smaller
transit systems to plan and deliver more frequent, higher
quality bus service to more residents and more communities. As
the new law is implemented, we urge Federal agencies to focus
on better service for communities with little to no service and
to work closely with smaller transit systems to reduce the
burden of regulations, reporting requirements, matching funding
requirements, and the level of work needed to apply for
discretionary Federal transportation funds. Investing in the
mobility of rural residents will provide a strong return as
people are able to remain in their own homes, living
independent, productive lives and contributing to their local
communities.
Madam Chair, I thank you for your time.
Chair Smith. Thank you very much. Mr. Bogren.
STATEMENT OF SCOTT BOGREN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY
TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
Mr. Bogren. Chair Smith and Ranking Member Rounds, really
appreciate the chance to be here today to speak with you about
rural, small urban, tribal, and specialized transportation.
My organization, the Community Transportation Association,
we have about 1,200 members around the country, and that is
where they come from. And it is really great to hear that both
of you really recognize what rural transit systems look like.
They are not scaled-down versions of WMATA here or the L.A.
Metro. They are unique systems that are serving very unique
communities and oftentimes, I think as you have rightfully
shown, working with an on-demand type of service.
Our written testimony goes into a lot of, I think,
opportunities when it comes to the bipartisan infrastructure
law and things to kind of keep an eye on when we are looking at
the implementation. I just want to cover a few here in my
remarks.
One thing is the non-Federal share. Our rural, tribal,
small cities often use Federal formula funds to operate. They
are allowed to do that, but that requires a 50-50 match between
Federal and non-Federal. And coming out of a pandemic that has
had pretty rough economic consequences in rural America, and
then on top of that the increases in rural transit funding that
we are grateful for, it puts a lot of pressure on these systems
to be able to match these funds. I have even had some of my
members talk about they are operating aging vehicles. They see
the funding that is put in place now to put new fleets out, and
they are not competing because they do not have the local match
to compete.
Another one is equitable access to the competitive grants
that are there. The new law has a number of competitive grant
programs. We are probably all--and you were mentioning the bus
and low-no NOFA because kind of that is the first thing that
has happened with the bipartisan infrastructure law. Small
agencies need that set-aside. The bus and bus facilities
program has a 15 percent set-aside for rural communities, and
that is important because, as both of you are well aware, they
do not have the capacity to compete with major metropolitan
areas.
A lot of CTA's members in the last months--the general
manager I would try to call, and they would say, she is out
driving today. You wear a lot of hats in rural systems. And so
they need to be competing with other systems that are the same
size, and that is really important. Overall, our members
operate vehicles and buses. So to see the kind of investment we
see in that NOFA for those types of vehicles, the workhorses of
public transit around the country, was just wonderful to see.
Also, within that NOFA, two things I wanted to point to.
One was the Federal Transit Administration has done a great job
of engaging with smaller agencies to make sure that though they
may require fleet transition plans for systems as they move
toward the low-and-no emission vehicles, though they may
require that, they are understanding that a 6-bus system in
Watertown, South Dakota, should have a different set and its
plan should look different than an urban operator with 300
buses. It was really great to see that, and that is really the
kind of understanding and, I think, good partnership we need to
see.
Further, that NOFA included 25 percent of the low-and-no
emission funds set aside for low-emission vehicles. Battery
electric buses are great for urban spaces. They are really only
available in very big sizes. Smaller agencies need to move in
that direction. You have mentioned some of the fueling that
works in Minnesota. A lot of our members are using CNG,
propane. Let us keep working toward that.
This law comes at an ideal time for our membership. It
really allows them to have the kind of investment they need to
design and redesign their operations so that they can be as
relevant as possible to the communities they are serving. They
can take advantage of technological innovations, and they can
work with new partners, both public and private, to really meet
the needs.
The essential equation in public transit is sometimes lost
in these discussions. It is the trip, and it is the people.
Folks like Ryan, they are not in the business of operating
buses; they move people. Every day, our members connect
isolated, older adults with a healthy meal or a trip to the
grocery store. We connect the patient three times a week with
life-sustaining dialysis. We work with persons with
disabilities to make sure they are getting essential job
training. And, we even sometimes are working with parents to
attend visitations with a child placed in foster care, reducing
the time it takes for that parent to reunify with their child.
That is just some of the work our members do.
Thanks for allowing me to tell their stories today, and I
look forward to answering any questions you may have.
Senator Smith. Thank you. Mr. Feigenbaum.
STATEMENT OF BARUCH FEIGENBAUM, SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR,
TRANSPORTATION POLICY, REASON FOUNDATION
Mr. Feigenbaum. Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Rounds, and
fellow Committee Members, thank you for the ability to testify
today. My name is Baruch Feigenbaum. I am Senior Managing
Director for Transportation Policy at Reason Foundation, a
nonprofit think tank with offices in L.A. and D.C. For almost
five decades, Reason's transportation experts have advised
Federal, State, and local policymakers on market-based
approaches to transportation.
I am a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology,
with degrees in public policy, transportation planning, and
transportation engineering. Before working at Reason
Foundation, I managed a van pool program in suburban Atlanta
and handled transportation issues for former Representative
Lynn Westmoreland.
With Reason, I have offered research studies on policies
that could improve urban and rural transit as well as the
effectiveness of infrastructure financing and funding. I have
worked with more a dozen States to implement transportation
policy reform, and I serve on the Transportation Research
Board, Bus Transit Systems, and Intelligent Transportation
Systems Committee as well as chairing the Bus Rapid Transit
Subcommittee. Finally, I am currently writing a book on how to
create a 21st century transit system. My testimony today draws
on these experiences.
While much of the focus in the transit world is on
providing mobility in urbanized areas, not enough attention is
paid to rural areas. More than 60 million people live in rural
areas, and some of them rely on transit services to reach their
jobs, doctors, and grocery stores.
In the transit world, we distinguish between transit
dependent and transit-choice riders. Transit-dependent riders
are those who do not have the means to access private vehicles.
Transit-choice riders are those who do have the means but
choose transit instead. Due to economic challenges in rural
areas, a growing percentage of rural riders are transit
dependent. Nationally, the average transit trip takes twice as
long as driving, but in rural areas the multiple is even
greater.
Since most rural transit riders are dependent on transit,
my testimony is going to focus on those transit dependent
individuals. Obviously, transit service looks different in
rural areas than in urban areas. While a heavy-rail subway line
makes sense for New York City and a bus rapid transit line
makes sense for Atlanta, fixed-route transit is seldom the best
solution in rural areas. I have five recommendations for
improving transit service to best serve rural populations.
Recommendation number one, right-size transit vehicles to
meet rural needs. While there may be some rural towns that can
support a few fixed-route bus lines, the better solution for
rural municipalities is flexible options like demand-response
transit, where vehicles alter their services to meet riders'
demands, and paratransit, which provides tailored services to
people who are elderly or with disabilities.
Several different types of vehicles are ideal for providing
mobility in rural areas. The first vehicle type is a privately
owned automobile such as a ride-hail vehicle or taxi. Many
rural areas have operated dial-a-ride taxi or Uber-like service
for years. The second type of vehicle is a van that seats
between 7 and 15 people. These vans are often used for van
pools in an urban area but can operate as flexible minibuses in
rural areas.
Recommendation two, contract out service or create a
nonprofit to operate it. While the public service has been the
traditional operator of transit services, my research has
revealed that contracted transit services and services
delivered by nonprofit agencies are better and cheaper than
public service provision. With contracted services, the agency
enters into a contract with an operator such as First Transit
or TransDev. These contracts can specify specific metrics to
ensure accountability and results. For example, contracts can
detail the maximum number of minutes a rider can be made to
wait before being picked up or the geographic locations of
service that must be covered.
Another possible model is having a nonprofit entity operate
the service. Rural Transit Service, which operates in upstate
New York, is a good model. In that case, the Transit Service,
southwest of Buffalo, relies on a network of 130 volunteers to
drive and maintain the vans as well as handle administrative
services. Most riders contribute money to their trips, but no
riders are denied service for inability to pay.
Recommendation number three, reduce regulations. One of the
challenges that rural transit agencies have is abiding by
Federal regulations. Some small counties, such as Randolph
County, Georgia, have chosen not to offer transit service
because officials say they cannot afford the staff needed to
comply with regulations.
To help reduce the burden on these rural systems, the FTA
and its National Transit Data base recording should allow
systems below a certain size to provide agency-profiled data
but not including the more rigorous data that is more time
consuming to collect. Congress could also eliminate costly
mandates, such as Buy America, that drive up costs for local
governments. And finally, the Department of Transportation has
proposed amending 2132-AB38 on charter service, regulation of
buses and van pools, and 2132-AB40 on bus testing. It is not
clear what changes those regulations would have, but I would
urge the Committee Members to pay attention.
Recommendation number four, try to improve efficiency.
Rural transit services rarely typically struggle to cover a
small share of their costs. My colleague and I found that most
systems had a fare box recovery rate of 5 to 15 percent whereas
urban systems have a fare box recovery rate of closer to 40
percent. Clearly, rural transit systems are always going to
need to be subsidized, but looking at things such as a
computerized dispatch center and ensuring that union contracts
have flexibility will help decrease costs.
Finally, recommendation number five, focus more on local
funding sources and less on Federal sources. Funding is often
the biggest challenge for rural transit systems. The recently
passed IIJA provides a 29 percent increase in guaranteed
Federal transit funding to $91 billion over 5 years. There are
also several grant programs, including a $2 billion rural
transportation discretionary grant. However, my research finds
local government funding is more important than Federal funding
because local officials know their communities best. State and
local funding also comes on top of Federal funding, providing a
more robust resource share.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the need
to improve rural transit services. I would be happy to answer
any and all questions either orally or in writing.
Senator Smith. Thank you very much to all of our guests
today.
We will now begin a round of 5-minute questions, and I will
start and then hand it off to Senator Rounds. So each of you,
in one way or another, have talked about how rural transit
systems account for more than half of the Nation's overall
transit systems. And we know how important they are to
communities, and they often do not get near the attention that
they deserve given how important they are.
Let me turn to Mr. Daniel and Mr. Bogren. So the passage of
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is going to help
these transit systems to continue to serve. Can you both talk
about what you see as the one or two most significant issues
facing rural or small city transit systems right now and how
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is going to assist?
Mr. Daniel, you can start.
Mr. Daniel. Well, rural systems throughout Minnesota need
increased funding to make improvements to their services.
Modernizing the bus fleet would be number one, and
technological advances would be number two. We always have to
look for ways to enhance the customer experience. With the use
of technology, that would be one way that we could enhance that
customer experience--the use of mobile ticketing, smart apps,
smartcard systems, and also looking at modernizing the bus
fleet or the vehicle fleet. If the buses are operating at the
rate of 250,000 miles, 9 out of 10, that bus might be in the
shop more than it is on the road.
So those would be the two recommendations that I have, look
to modernize the fleet and also look at the technological
advances because you want to make providing transit to the
public the process as seamless as possible.
Chair Smith. Great.
Mr. Daniel. And the use of technology will be very
important in that aspect as well.
Chair Smith. Thank you.
Mr. Bogren. I think a lot of it was in the bill, the Rural
Transit Act, that both of you put forward last year. We need
help with the local match. That is critical. And the other
thing you will not be surprised to hear, systems are having a
really tough time finding drivers. Most of the operators that I
talk to right now, were it not for the lack of having a full
labor, they cannot get to their ridership levels prepandemic.
They are hovering in the 60 to 70 percent recovered ridership,
which is great, but they can do more and want to do more.
So I would say it is those two issues right now. It is the
local match, and it is the labor shortage.
Chair Smith. Yep. I know that Senator Rounds and I both
agree on the challenges around local match, and we tried hard
to get that resolved in the bill, and we will keep working on
that.
Let me ask you whether--we are hearing a lot about
challenges around supply chains, and I am wondering if either
of you can address the needs, the issues, around supply chains
and how that is affecting maybe amongst your members your
ability to be able to put these dollars to work.
Mr. Bogren. Well, I think that is an issue. We--I have been
doing this for 33 years. I never thought I would see $1.5
billion in bus funding put out in a single Notice of Funding
Availability, and the irony is many of the smaller agencies are
telling me they are expecting a 48-plus month, maybe even a 3
year, wait period before that new vehicle can get there. The
vehicles that smaller agencies operate are oftentimes built on
kind of an OEM chassis, like a Ford chassis, and
understandably, the competition for those limited chassis is
very high. So, yeah, I am concerned that it is going to take a
while before you really start to see the impact of this capital
investment out there in the field with new vehicles.
Chair Smith. You are seeing the same thing, Mr. Daniel?
Mr. Daniel. That is correct.
Chair Smith. Yeah.
Mr. Daniel. I am seeing the same thing.
Chair Smith. Now I know--I want to go to the question of
workforce quickly. I know that small and rural transit
providers in Minnesota tell me that the drivers' workforce
issues are a really big deal. And it is not just drivers; it is
also the dispatchers and office staff and all the people that
are required to make a system work. One provider told me about
that if just two people call in sick on any given day then they
have to shut down the route. They do not--they cannot just move
people around.
And of course, many rural transit providers rely heavily on
volunteer drivers, and there is a series of bureaucratic issues
that have made retaining those volunteer drivers really
difficult.
So, Mr. Bogren, can you talk about that briefly and how can
we in Congress help with that issue?
Mr. Bogren. Again, it comes down to rightsizing. You know,
there were movements in the development of the IIJA to move the
threshold where you would need a CDL down to eight passengers.
It is currently at 16 plus the driver. That would have just
meant these smaller agencies would have had to go out and find
more CDL-approved drivers. The FMCSA, in February, put out new
rules on entry-level driving for CDL, getting that license. We
need to make that simpler.
The State of Minnesota is doing some really good work on
that, by the way, in terms of training and developing regional
approaches. We think that is going to be critical. That is one
of the issues.
And look, it is just we are in an era of a lot of
competition. We are competing for drivers, even with these
smaller vehicles, with UPS and Fedex and Amazon, and we have
got to come up with ways--whether they are apprenticeship
programs and working with community colleges in the area, we
have got to come up with some new ways to develop our workforce
and bring them into what we do.
Chair Smith. Thank you.
Senator Rounds.
Senator Rounds. Thank you, Madam Chair.
According to the American Public Transportation
Association, there are approximately 1,159 rural transit
systems nationwide, accounting for more than half of the
Nation's transit systems. However, in most cases, rules and
regulations are developed with a larger system in mind,
creating compliance burdens for the truly small systems. I
know, Mr. Daniel, you mentioned that in your opening statement,
and Mr. Feigenbaum, you have made it pretty clear that you
think there are some modifications that need to be made as
well.
In terms of the current regulatory burden that small, rural
transit systems face and the importance of keeping that burden
as low as possible as implement this Act, Mr. Feigenbaum, can
you begin by just sharing with us a few more, specifically the
regulations that you think would be most effective that we
should be looking at modifying or at least taking a second look
at?
Mr. Feigenbaum. Sure. I believe that the most effective one
would be the reporting in the National Transit Data base. And
just to clarify that a little bit further, right now every
transit agency has to report data on, I believe, something like
15 different categories, which takes a ton of staff time. It is
reasonable to expect a transit system in New York or Los
Angeles to do that, but I do not think a small transit system
can do that.
Small transit systems should just be provided--allowed to
provide the minimum amount of data that basically covers fare
box recovery ratio, passengers, and the amount of funding they
get in their budget each year. I think that would be plenty
sufficient to ensure that the transit agencies are being a good
steward of taxpayer dollars but not be overly onerous.
I also think the Buy America situation is pretty important.
It really increases capital costs for transit vehicles by a
lot, anywhere from 30 to 50 percent. It also increases the
amount of time to get those vehicles. So when a transit agency
needs a vehicle, they are often relying on an older vehicle
that has been mentioned may have 250,000 or miles and not in
the best shape simply because it takes months and months and
months to go through that. And there are some vehicles that are
not even built in this country, and so the international
company actually has to set up a factory in this country so
they are compliant with Buy America.
Finally, there is a lot of regulations that the Department
of Transportation is proposing. The two that are pending right
now, 2132-AB38 and 2132-AB40, on charter service, regulation of
buses and van pools, and on bus testing, I do not know what is
going to come out of them. They may be helpful. Generally, my
opinion is that less is more in this type of situation. We
should be focusing only on the regulations that are needed for
safety and not on other purposes, whatever they might be.
So those would be my top three.
Senator Rounds. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Daniel, I know in your opening statement you commented
on some of these issues. Would you concur with what Mr.
Feigenbaum is suggesting?
Mr. Daniel. Yes, I concur.
Senator Rounds. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Bogren.
Mr. Bogren. Yes. I think rightsizing regulations for the
smaller agencies, it just makes a lot of sense. When we think
about things like electrifying vehicles, smaller communities in
South Dakota, they should be working with the schools; they
should be working with the municipal vehicles, so they can
increase their buying power and kind of work with these kind of
regional approaches because when you buying two or three
vehicles you do not have the same purchasing power.
And it is just all the regulations just need to kind of be
filtered through and understood that an agency with the budget
size and the staff size that a lot of my members have needs
just be right-sized.
Senator Rounds. Thank you. The elderly or disabled make up
almost a third of the population in rural communities and are
often the two demographics within a community that need
transportation services the most, whether to commute to a job
or to get to a doctor's appointment or buy their groceries.
They rely on paratransit services to get them safely to where
they need to go.
Mr. Bogren, could you discuss some of the unique transit
challenges truly small, rural communities, like my own
community of Pierre or Fort Pierre, South Dakota, face as they
try to reach these individuals?
Mr. Bogren. I learned a lot. I remember one time I was
riding one of Barb Klein's [phonetic] buses out in the western
part of South Dakota. You know, here in the East Coast, when we
think about public transit, it is like how do we get this
person to their destination as absolutely fast as possible.
That is the point. And you ride on rural vehicles with an older
adult, and that may be their whole socializing for the day, and
they do not actually mind if they get an extra half an hour on
the vehicle to catch up with their neighbors.
And the passengers, they know the drivers and vice versa.
If that is a different driver, you will get, oh, who is that?
Where is Jerry, the person who is usually driving me?
So--and that is a growing part of the population, and you
know, there is nothing worse than the isolation that older
adults face when they lose their mobility. I am dealing with
that personally with my own family right now, and trying to
take the car keys away from my father is really hard because he
views it as a diminished quality of life. These services stand
in that and make their years fruitful still and very valuable.
Senator Rounds. I will just share with you my own father
passed away in 2018, but a couple years before that one of the
difficult decisions we had was suggesting to dad that it was
time that he not drive. It just happened to have been based
upon me getting a phone call from the local transit driver, who
I knew, and he calls, Mike, your dad just tried to make a left
turn out of Burger King onto the highway again that was not
good. But once again, it is a case of where public transit is
necessary in those small communities and they really do make a
difference.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Chair Smith. Next, we will hear from Senator Ossoff, who is
joining us remotely.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for
hosting this hearing. Thank you to our panel.
Mr. Bogren, in the last several years, communities across
Georgia have embraced microtransit. Valdosta's new microtransit
program is expected to average 170 riders, and this January
completed close to 300 rides per day. The majority of these
riders have a household income of $25,000 per year or less. And
working with local leaders, I was recently able to secure an
additional million dollars to expand the Valdosta On Demand
microtransit fleet.
With the increased funding through the bipartisan
infrastructure law, Mr. Bogren, how do you see microtransit
transforming transit service for small cities like Valdosta,
Georgia, and rural communities over the next 5 years?
Mr. Bogren. Well, what it will do is it will provide an
entirely new way to serve areas. Typically, we kind of--a city
the size of Valdosta would have had fixed-route service, maybe
operating buses at an hour headway, and what the on-demand
model is proving in Valdosta is it can increase service, serve
more people and do it at a lower cost. And we view that as a
very important model that we want to see all sorts of other
communities investing in and trying, and it is a place where we
can partner with the private sector and also where we can
onboard the kind of technology that really makes the service
more relevant to a passenger than what we have often done in
communities that size, which is the bare minimum when it comes
to a fixed-route service.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Bogren. In Georgia, 36 of
our 159 counties still have no access to any public
transportation. In my view, this is an unacceptable lack of
access to transportation.
We just heard from my Republican colleague, Senator Rounds,
there is bipartisan support for transit in rural communities.
That is one of the reasons I offered the Local Transit Planning
Support Act, which empowers the Federal Government to provide
more help to low-density and low-income communities as they
plan their transportation networks, and that legislation was
signed into law by President Biden as part of the bipartisan
infrastructure law.
Mr. Bogren, how can communities without public
transportation networks, like Harris County in the
Chattahoochee River Valley, Newton County in metro Atlanta, or
for example, Houston County in central Georgia, take advantage
of the Local Transit Planning Support Act to begin planning and
implementing transit services in their own communities?
Mr. Bogren. Well, I think the planning is critical and, you
know, rural areas are now more kind of economic regions than
they are isolated, self-contained, little towns. And in the
counties that are unserved in Georgia, we need to bring those
counties together to look at what are the big trip generators
and what are the big important destinations, health care,
higher ed, obviously, work and others of those types of
environments, and that kind of planning that you have built in
there is exactly what needs to take place.
And we also need to make sure, cognizant of what Senator
Rounds said earlier, that--and we really believe that--people
with disabilities and older adults need to be a part of that
planning process. We need inclusive planning because the
services are often targeting and built for them, and yet, we do
not sometimes in the planning process involve them in that
service.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Bogren. We can look as well
at rural areas with significant manufacturing presence, where
workers need to be able to get to and from work, to and from
the store, to and from the doctor, as building regional
authorities who can engage in this planning together. We are
looking at some possibilities for that in west Georgia.
Mr. Daniel, I want to discuss paratransit with you. High
quality public transportation means more than just regular
buses and trains. It is an integral public service. Communities
across Georgia are looking to improve their paratransit
services. In Chatham County, for example, in coastal Georgia,
there are plans to build a new paratransit maintenance
facility, allowing Chatham area transit to provide ABA-
compliant transit services while increasing efficiency and
reliability. How do you see the increased resources through the
bipartisan infrastructure law serving the expansion and
improvement of paratransit services, for example, in Chatham
County and the broader ABA community, please?
Mr. Daniel. With the use of the Federal funds in providing
higher quality public transit service, we have to focus on the
areas of technology, safety, security, delivering service, and
new buses.
With the technology, this includes real-time bus updates
for our customers, mobile ticketing, mobile apps, and smart
fare cards. This will help provide customers with convenient
transportation and position public transit as a whole as a
legitimate option for travel. These improvements enhance the
customer experience and enable increased independence for
community members who may otherwise be homebound or reliant on
family and friends to get to work or medical appointments.
In terms of safety, touchless fare payment reduces physical
interaction between the bus operators and customers, thereby
protecting both groups, especially during the flu and COVID
seasons.
In terms of security, comprehensive camera systems will
help ensure customers and employees are confident that their
ride----
Senator Ossoff. OK, Mr. Daniel. I am sorry, my time is
going to expire in a moment. I wanted to focus on paratransit
there.
But with the Chair's forgiveness, I am just going to ask
one more question. Mr. Bogren, this bipartisan infrastructure
law is a tremendous opportunity to invest in public
transportation in fast-growing communities like Augusta,
Georgia, home to Fort Gordon, the Cyber Center of Excellence,
and Augusta University Medical Center. What opportunities do
you see, Mr. Bogren, for cities like Augusta, who have, for
example, that high tech and military footprint and are growing,
to invest in forward leaning technologies that keep up with
changing and growing demand?
Mr. Bogren. Well, I think there is a lot of opportunities
to do that. I cannot tell you how many of our members have
military veterans in the operations environment because they
are used to that environment and they are used to working with
technology, and there is a lot of them coming on board right
now.
For instance, we have done a lot of talking here about on
demand, but there is no reason that what we are learning in
Valdosta cannot be applied in the Augusta part of your State
and looked at. Granted, each community is unique, but some of
the operational environments that are out there, the ability
now to pay for technology, buy vehicles, and really pay for
capital to make these happen, has never been greater, and we
need to make that work.
Chair Smith. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Ossoff. Thank you, Mr. Bogren.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Chair Smith. Thank you, Senator Ossoff.
I believe that Senator Rounds does not have any additional
questions. So I am just going to ask one final question
directed to Mr. Bogren, and this has to do with tribal transit.
I would love to just talk about that briefly. Senator Rounds
and I both sit on the Indian Affairs Committee, and I know also
that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided
massive increases in funding for FTA's Tribal Transit Program.
And of course, transit in Indian Country is just as vital as it
is in any other rural community, in some ways almost more so.
So could you just comment briefly on what impact this will have
on tribal transit and what we need to be keeping in mind on
this Committee there?
Mr. Bogren. Tribal communities are very unique communities.
I have worked with them in both Minnesota and South Dakota. But
you know, the need is there; it is desperate. And the growth
that the bill provides is so, so needed.
We were meeting with a bunch of tribes last week up in
Alaska with some of my staff, and you know, what they can do
now because there were so many tribes competing for a fixed
amount through the FAST Act, this amount, great growth, and
also it grows throughout the 5 years in this bill. We know this
program is going to be oversubscribed. It always is, and that
is because the tribes have health care needs, they have job and
commute transportation needs, and they have to do it in often
very isolated, rural communities, where if they do not
transport their tribal members no one will.
Chair Smith. Right. Thank you very much.
Well, I want to just say thank you to all of our witnesses
for being here today and for your testimony. I think we have
heard a clear message about the importance of understanding the
unique needs of small, rural transit providers. We heard great
messages about how we need to rightsize our regulations, our
vehicles, how we need to be thinking about using these dollars
to help modernize systems, increase technology in these
systems, and also, as we have said, address some of the
challenges around drivers that we are seeing everywhere, not
only in transit. So I want to thank you very much.
I hope to work more with you, Senator Rounds, on these
issues facing rural transit providers and operators, and to
continue to push our Investments in Rural Transit Act, and I am
sure that we will be able to find other ways to help out rural
and small transit providers as we implement this legislation in
a good bipartisan way.
Before we adjourn, I would like to just enter into the
record a letter from the American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials with recommendations for
implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Without
objection, so ordered.
Chair Smith. And for any Senator who wishes to submit
questions for the record, those questions are due 1 week from
today, which will be Wednesday, April 13th. For our witnesses,
you have a 45-day period to respond to those questions for the
record, and thank you again for participating.
And with that, this hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:27 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
[Prepared statements, responses to written questions, and
additional material supplied for the record follow:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHAIR TINA SMITH
Good afternoon. The Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and
Community Development will come to order.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is about fixing the
problems Americans encounter every day. It represents the largest long-
term investment in our Nation's infrastructure and competitiveness in a
generation. It's also going to create millions of good paying jobs.
With benefits.
Just as important, it will make a direct and immediate impact in
the lives of Americans. It's exactly the kind of thing Washington ought
to spend more time working on--and exactly the kind of thing I came to
the Senate to get done.
Today's hearing will focus on how the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act is supporting transit in small cities and rural areas, and how
we can make sure it works.
In June 2021, this Subcommittee convened a bipartisan hearing to
highlight the transit needs in rural communities, and we had excellent
testimony from leaders from Minnesota, South Dakota, and Native
communities in Northeast Oklahoma.
That hearing helped us to understand the issues facing rural
transit providers, including how rural and Tribal formula grant
programs needed funding boosts to meet the changing needs of their
communities.
We also held a field hearing in Minnesota last summer to understand
the transit needs of our State. I heard from cities like Rochester
about their use of competitive transit grant to expand bus service and
support the Destination Medical Center project.
In August of last year, the Senate passed the historic, bipartisan
infrastructure law, which boosted annual funding for rural transit.
This law is the largest investment in transit in a generation. In the
first year of this new law, transit formula grants will jump 30 percent
and continue to grow after that. This is an incredible opportunity for
transit in small cities and rural places.
Now we turn to implementation. Our Committee's job is to provide
oversight, and make sure this historic investment work as Congress
intended.
Already, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has gone to work
to cut through red tape and get funding out to communities. In fact,
the FTA announced just today that this year Minnesota will receive $166
million in transit funds through formula programs. The FTA also
recently issued a combined ``NoFo,'' or notice of funding availability,
for two bus grant programs, that simplified the paperwork transit
agencies are required to fill out. This will make these grants more
accessible for smaller operators who don't have huge grant-writing
teams.
The FTA has also held dozens of webinars and calls with transit
agencies to provide technical support and answer questions about the
exciting opportunities available under the new law.
Today, we want to hear from our panel about the impact the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will have on transit in small
cities and rural places. We want to know what implementation issues we
should keep an eye on, and how this Committee and the Federal
Government can help support local creativity and innovation in rural
transit.
Here's an example:
During the Pandemic, Minnesota transit systems innovated, and
served as a lifeline for families. Minnesota was one of the first
States to use transit to bring vaccines to people at home. TriCap,
which serves the five county area around St. Cloud, provided ``reverse
transit,'' bringing medications and other necessities to people,
especially the elderly, who couldn't access them. This is the type of
innovation that smaller transit operators can do, and we ought to be
thinking about how we in Congress can support this type of work.
Rural and small city transit systems are leading the way,
innovating with on demand service, specialized routes, and routes that
connect people to specific destinations. Today we're going to have a
chance to learn how this is going, and how the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act can support this innovation.
As we listen to the panel of rural transit leaders today, I ask you
to keep in mind the veteran who needs to get to a VA clinic, the person
who's trying to get back on their feet by completing job training, or a
senior who is looking forward to their weekly fresh produce delivery.
Three years ago, Senator Rounds and I teamed up with Senator
Fischer from Nebraska and Senator Baldwin from Wisconsin to create the
Rural Economy Working Group.
Our goal was to highlight the strengths and assets in diverse rural
communities, and to learn from rural leaders about how the Federal
Government can be a good partner--a better partner in supporting their
leadership.
Small cities and towns and rural places produce our food and energy
and are hubs of manufacturing and entrepreneurship, education, health
care, arts, and culture. We need these communities to work for
everyone. And that means transportation has to work. And for
transportation to work, there need to be viable, efficient, well-
functioning transit systems--busses, paratransit, on-demand services,
and more.
Now, with rising gas prices caused by the terrible, brutal invasion
of Ukraine by Putin, we can see how important it is to move rapidly to
clean energy and renewable fuels. When it comes to clean energy, the
United States can lead or we can follow, and I want us to lead. And, I
want the opportunities for electric vehicles and low carbon renewables
like ethanol and biodiesel to be available in greater Minnesota, and in
rural places all over America. The fact is, rural transit providers are
full of great ideas for how to meet the needs of their communities when
it comes to mobility, and we need to listen.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today about how the
Federal Government can be a good partner in delivering on the promise
of the bipartisan infrastructure bill in smaller cities and rural
areas.
I want to thank Senator Rounds and his staff for working with us on
this important hearing, and for his partnership on these issues. Sen.
Rounds is recognized for his opening statement.
______
PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR MIKE ROUNDS
Thank you, Madame Chair, and thank you to our witnesses for taking
the time to attend today's hearing and share your expertise.
Last year, President Biden signed into law the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act, which allocated an unprecedented amount of
taxpayer dollars to transit systems across the country. This law
provided a 67 percent increase in annual Federal funding for public
transportation when compared with the annual amount provided in the
previous authorization. This is not including the $69.5 billion for
transit in response to COVID-19 nor the $340 million provided through
the Public Transportation Relief Program. Of the $108 billion
authorized and appropriated through the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act for public transportation, it is important to note that just
$4.56 billion was allocated for the Rural Formula Program. All the
while, States like New York and California are estimated to receive $11
billion and $10 billion respectively.
With this investment comes a need for critical oversight to make
certain that this money is spent on fixes that will make the most
impact. Therefore, as we move to implement this legislation, it is
important to discuss the challenges facing rural communities in
offering safe, affordable, and reliable methods of transportation.
Rural areas cover 97 percent of U.S. land area and most rural
residents still rely on their own vehicles as their main means of
transportation. Overall, rural residents travel about 33 percent more,
rural workers travel 38 percent more and lower-income rural workers 59
percent more annual miles than those in urban areas. Rural residents
spend more time and money on transportation and are more vulnerable to
transportation problems like vehicle maintenance issues, they lose
their ability to drive or fuel prices spike as they are now.
Therefore rural roads are heavily traveled and critical for
maintaining the way of life in South Dakota and the rest of rural
America. The frequency of travel on some of these rural roads has
further increased over the past years as tourism has become a growing
business in the rural United States. Most of the country's national
parks are located in rural regions, like Mount Rushmore in South
Dakota, which draws a large number of visitors each year. In addition,
with agriculture dominating most rural communities, much of the
Nation's food industry relies on the transportation of products over
long distances on rural roads and highways. The safety and structural
integrity of these roads is important to maintain an interconnected
transportation system.
With few communities in South Dakota having an actual fixed-route
bus system, a majority of rural transit offerings are modes of
paratransit which provide transportation for the elderly and/or persons
with disabilities. Roughly 31 percent of the populations in rural
communities are either elderly or disabled and these two demographics
within a community often need transportation services for doctor's
appointments or to complete grocery shopping.
Due to the need to travel long distances, driver shortages and
lower ridership, providing on-demand rides in rural areas can be
extremely expensive. As we implement the Infrastructure Investment and
Jobs Act, I think we should explore ways to utilize public-private
partnerships to make local, State, and Federal dollars go further. We
should also be looking at new ways to use technology. For instance, in
in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the Sioux Area Metro, known as SAM, is
trying out a ``SAM on-demand'' phone app--which allows riders to
request rides on their smartphones to increase ridership and
efficiency.
During implementation of the infrastructure law, it is also
critical to reduce the regulatory burden as much as possible for the
truly small communities around the country. In South Dakota, our rural
transit agencies servicing small towns do not have the capacity to wade
through endless red tape. Rural communities must have the freedom to
use the funding in ways that serve them, not be forced into a one-size-
fits-all approach.
To manage these issues, resources must be allocated to the most
vital areas of the transport system and I think our Subcommittee should
remain focused on the oversight of those resources. I look forward to
hearing from our witnesses today and learning more about ways rural
America can best utilize the resources from the infrastructure law.
______
PREPARED STATEMENT OF RYAN DANIEL
CEO, St. Cloud Metro Bus
April 6, 2022
Thank you Madam Chair for this opportunity to testify regarding the
bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and its impact on
smaller transit systems.
I am testifying today as Chief Executive Officer of St. Cloud Metro
Bus and also as President of the Minnesota Public Transit Association
which includes transit systems throughout the State--urban, suburban,
and rural.
First, I would like to express our deep appreciation for the
increased funding provided in the IIJA law. The 30 percent increase in
formula funds as well as for programs like the Bus and Bus Facilities
program will make a huge difference as transit systems continue to
rebuild and serve a growing number of riders in the wake of the
pandemic. The impact of this law for St. Cloud Metro Bus and other
transit systems will be expanding, higher-quality transit service over
the next 5 years. Knowing the level of funding we will have, allows all
transit systems to plan efficiently and allows us to provide stable bus
service to our customers.
I would also like to thank the Federal Transit Administration for
its work in communicating with transit systems and working hard to get
the money delivered as quickly as possible. Many of the transit system
managers in Minnesota have participated in webinars and had questions
answered by the detailed information provided by FTA. The NOFO already
issued for the No-Low Emission Bus program allows transit systems the
opportunity to apply for funds that will expand their fleets while
protecting the environment. Metro Bus has been transitioning our fleet
to low emissions CNG since 2014; we are proud to say we are now 90
percent CNG. With additional funding opportunities, such as the No-Low
Emission program, in the next 5 years, our organization is planning to
apply for funds to replace a large majority of our CNG bus fleet, which
will reach its useful life in 2026.
According to American Public Transit Association's (APTA)
calculation we will be getting additional 5307 formula funds. With this
increase in funds, Metro Bus will be in better position to attract
safe, reliable transit operators allowing us to maintain, and possibly
expand, our service, as well as keep up with technological advances in
the industry and the overall workforce moving into a new, post-pandemic
world.
In rural areas of Minnesota, residents who ride our buses often
have no other option for getting to important medical appointments,
jobs, school, family events, and to access services. For example, Betty
in Worthington uses Community Transit to get to kidney dialysis, the
hair salon, and weekly shopping trips. Without this bus service, she
would have a hard time living in her own home and would probably need
to leave her community to live in a larger city that had transit
service available. Unfortunately, Community Transit has limited service
hours and capacity to meet all of the needs of residents in the 9
county service area that it covers.
We appreciate the focus of IIJA on providing resources to
underserved areas. Smaller communities struggle to pay for weekend or
evening service but residents need to get to important destinations
after 4 or 5 in the afternoon. As decisions are made about allocating
discretionary dollars provided through the IIJA we urge the FTA to
follow through on prioritizing areas that currently leave many people
without the level of transit service they need.
Rural communities also struggle to generate funding to meet local
match requirements to access State and Federal funds. We applaud your
work Madam Chair, along with Senator Rounds, to pass the Investments in
Rural Transit Act to reduce the need to charge local residents more in
order to access additional transit resources in areas with lower
densities and lower incomes.
The new law's focus on modernizing the fleet is very important.
Many of our systems in Minnesota find themselves running buses with
over 250,000 miles due to the difficulties in purchasing new buses. As
systems struggle to keep older vehicles operating, the maintenance
costs increase while dependability decreases. Any assistance that can
be provided in helping systems purchase new vehicles would make a big
difference in the impact that the IIJA will have in the short-term in
improving transit service.
Another important issue for smaller transit systems in the
implementation of this law is technical assistance. Rural systems with
a small number of staff have a hard time dealing with new reporting or
planning requirements and developing funding applications without some
additional technical assistance. Some systems in Minnesota have been
successful in securing competitive funding for new buses or facilities
in the past, but most systems are stretched thin and do not have the
capacity to carefully track all funding opportunities and effectively
compete for new funding.
Any resources that can be provided to help smaller systems apply
for a variety of funding sources would be greatly appreciated.
The additional, stable funding provided by the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act will allow smaller transit systems to plan and
deliver more frequent, higher-quality bus service to more residents and
more communities. As the new law is implemented, we urge Federal
agencies to focus on better service for communities with little no
service and to work closely with smaller transit systems to reduce the
burden of regulations, reporting requirements, matching funding
requirements and the level of work needed to apply for discretionary
Federal transportation funds. Investing in the mobility of rural
residents will provide a strong return as people are able to remain in
their own homes living independent, productive lives and contributing
to their local communities.
Volunteer Drivers
In Minnesota, volunteer drivers provide 168,000+ rides each year
for older adults and other nondrivers, giving them access to health
care and other essential community services and products. Organizations
with volunteer driver programs serve more than 77,000 people each year
and drivers cover more than 9.5 million miles. Volunteer driver
programs provide critical transportation for people as well as
transport for meals and other products, including donated organs. The
IRS-approved mileage reimbursement rate of just 14 cents for volunteer
drivers is a significant barrier to recruiting and retaining
volunteers.
MPTA urges you to increase the Federal reimbursement rate for
volunteer drivers to match the rate set by the IRS for business
mileage.
The Mobile Vaccination Bus Project
Transit systems jumped into action when the COVID-19 pandemic hit
to provide new services in their communities. In Minnesota, food
delivery services using transit buses helped many families and seniors
to receive food without having to travel to stores, keeping at-risk
people safe.
Another initiative was using buses to get more COVID vaccines to
more people. During the duration of the Mobile Vaccination Bus Project,
a partnership of organizations including the Minnesota Department of
Health, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and Metro Transit
hosted 272 events and administered 7,082 vaccines to community members.
Additionally, 94 percent of community partners who completed post-event
surveys reported that the Mobile Vaccination Bus Project provided
COVID-19 vaccines to people who otherwise would not have had access.
The MDH Mobile Vaccine Bus Project was centered on bringing COVID-
19 vaccines to communities of focus, many of which have historically
faced barriers to health care. Based on post event survey data, more
than half of mobile clinics served African American and Latinx
communities, and more than a third served Persons with Disabilities.
Additionally, the Mobile Vaccination Bus Project was committed to
reaching communities in all geographic settings in Minnesota, making
stops in urban, suburban, and rural communities. In total, the buses
visited 111 zip codes and 42 different counties in the State.
CDL Licensing for Transit Drivers
Hiring and retaining bus operators remains a major challenge for
many transit systems. One of the problems we have faced in Minnesota is
the lack of facilities and staff to administer road tests for drivers
to acquire a commercial drivers license. St. Cloud Metro Bus benefits
from having access to CDL licensing services within our system. We are
working to secure authority to provide this training and testing to
other transit systems in Minnesota. Long wait times for CDL testing and
the high demand for drivers with a CDL license has proved to be a big
barrier to many transit systems in maintaining and expanded local
service.
Customer Testimonials
Minnesota Valley Transit Authority Customer Patrick is an elderly
gentleman who no longer drives. His son was unable to continue to
transport him to and from work at Walmart in Apple Valley due to
scheduling conflicts. Patrick has expressed gratitude for our Connect
service as he would not be able to get to his job without it.
The Legends of Apple Valley is a senior living complex serviced by
our Connect buses. Initially one resident reached out for
transportation assistance for daily tasks such as doctor appointments
or small shopping trips. She enjoyed the service so much that she
spread the word to her neighbors in the apartment complex. Soon we were
receiving a wide variety of calls from Legends of Apple Valley
residents requesting assistance in setting up the app so they could
schedule their own rides.
Rochester, Minnesota, is home of the world-renowned Mayo Clinic,
and also home to Rochester Public Transit (RPT)--a robust public
transit service serving three key customer types: a large number of
commuters into a dense urban core, a growing number of passionate
``choice-riders,'' and a diverse group of transit-reliant customers
from all walks of life. RPT operates 32 fixed routes 365 days a year,
and a complimentary paratransit service for persons with disabilities.
Rochester is also currently in the process of seeking Federal Small
Starts funding to build the first bus rapid transit line in Greater
Minnesota.
Recently a local educator shared her perspective on the role
Rochester Public Transit plays in supporting the Rochester Community.
Karen Cook is the Outreach, Volunteers, and ESL Navigator for the Adult
and Family Literacy Program in the Rochester Public School district.
At the Hawthorne Education Center in Rochester, Minnesota, I
work with Adult Basic Education students who are seeking
education to better their lives through English as a Second
Language (ESL), General Educational Development (GED) classes
and testing, college preparation courses, Citizenship, and
more.
The majority of these students have barriers and challenges
that have impacted their educational journey. By educating
students about how to use Rochester Public Transit, the local
bus service, I am helping them to overcome one of those
barriers.
Students have shared with me the independence they now feel
after practice transfers, feeling confident in reading a route
schedule, and making to possible to live more independently by
navigating to school, work, and appointments.
One such student is Amina, a new U.S. Citizen. She able to use
public transportation to go to work and school; she was no
longer dependent upon family members to take her where she
needs to go. She is enjoying her freedom as a new citizen as
well as independence to navigate the city.
Marcus, who is working to complete his GED, is better able to
attend school while working because he is able to study while
riding the bus. He can make the most of his opportunities to
improve his life. His attendance is better in the classroom
because of this.
Because they are students at Hawthorne, they are eligible to
purchase a student rate pass for a great reduction which adds
to the great benefit of public transit by making it more
affordable.
______
PREPARED STATEMENT OF SCOTT BOGREN
Executive Director, Community Transportation Association of America
April 6, 2022
Subcommittee Chair Smith, Ranking Member Rounds, and Members of the
Subcommittee:
My name is Scott Bogren and I have been the Executive Director of
the Community Transportation Association of America, better known as
CTAA, for 6 years. I have been with CTAA, in a variety of capacities,
for a total of 33 years, working directly with smaller transit
operators around the country.
As the Executive Director of a national, nonprofit membership
organization representing more than 1,200 rural, small-urban, tribal,
specialized (i.e., agencies serving people with disabilities, older
adults, veterans, etc.) and nonemergency medical transportation
operators across the country, it is an honor to be selected to appear
before you today regarding the equitable implementation of the
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) in rural and small-city America.
For our members around the country, there is no more important topic.
Public transportation is a national program, with operations in
virtually every corner of the country today. The implementation of the
landmark BIL, which commits unprecedented Federal investment in public
transit, must accordingly benefit all transit operators. For CTAA
members, the key Federal transit programs that I'll be referring to in
this written testimony (as well as in my oral remarks) are the Section
5311 Rural Public Transportation Formula Program, the Section 5310
Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program,
the Section 5307 Urban Public Transportation Formula Program (focusing
on the small-urban portion targeting urbanized areas with populations
of less than 200,000) and the Section 5339 Bus and Bus Facilities
Dedicated Capital Program.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA) has been a valuable partner and asset to CTAA
members around the country. The agency has worked quickly to apportion
record amounts of Federal investment in public transportation while
continuing to maintain an open dialogue with smaller operators to
ensure a right-sized approach to competitive grant requirements.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Thank you for the opportunity to share CTAA's insights and thoughts
on Advancing Public Transportation in Small Cities and Rural Places
under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Congressional support for
rural, tribal, small-city and specialized transit operations has
allowed these agencies to survive the COVID-19 pandemic largely intact,
with the ability to continue to serve their communities and passengers.
Our members all around the Nation thank you.
______
PREPARED STATEMENT OF BARUCH FEIGENBAUM
Senior Managing Director, Transportation Policy, Reason Foundation
April 6, 2022
Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Rounds, and fellow Committee
Members:
My name is Baruch Feigenbaum. I am senior managing director for
transportation policy at Reason Foundation, a nonprofit think tank with
offices in Los Angeles and Washington, DC. For almost five decades
Reason's transportation experts have advised Federal, State, and local
policymakers on market-based approaches to transportation.
My Credentials on Today's Topic
I am a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with degrees
in public policy, transportation planning, and transportation
engineering. My master's thesis studied induced demand in growing areas
and potential solutions. Before working with Reason Foundation, I
managed a vanpool program in suburban Atlanta and handled
transportation issues for former U.S. House Representative Lynn
Westmoreland.
With Reason, I have authored research studies on policies that
could improve mobility, highway quality, highway congestion, urban and
rural transit, and the effectiveness of infrastructure financing and
funding. I have worked with more than a dozen States and numerous
counties to implement transportation policy reforms. I currently serve
on the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of
Sciences and Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee, as well as
chairman of the Bus Rapid Transit Subcommittee. Finally, I am currently
writing a book on how to create a 21st-century transit system. My
testimony today draws on these experiences.
Overview of Testimony: The Differences Between Urban and Rural Areas
and Between Transit-Dependent and Transit-Choice Customers
While much of the focus in the transit world is understandably on
providing mobility in urbanized areas, not enough attention is paid to
rural areas. More than 60 million people live in rural areas, and some
of them rely on transit services to reach their jobs, doctors, and
grocery stores.
In the transit world we often distinguish between transit-dependent
and transit-choice riders. Transit-dependent riders are those that do
not have the means to access private vehicles. Transit-choice riders
are those who do have the means to access private vehicles but choose
transit services. Due to economic challenges in rural areas, a growing
percentage of rural riders are transit-dependent today and existing
transit service in many areas is inadequate. Nationally, the average
transit trip takes twice as long as driving, but in rural areas the
multiple is even greater. Since most rural transit riders are dependent
on transit, my testimony is going to focus on serving these
individuals.
Obviously transit service looks different in rural areas than in
urban areas. While a heavy-rail subway line makes sense for New York
City, and a bus rapid transit line makes sense for Atlanta, fixed-route
transit is seldom the best solution in rural areas. I have four
recommendations for improving transit services to best serve rural
populations, especially transit-dependent riders.
Recommendation Number 1: Right-Size Transit Vehicles To Meet Rural
Needs
While there may be some rural towns that can support a few fixed-
route bus service lines, the better solution for these rural
municipalities are going to be more flexible options like demand-
response transit, where vehicles alter their services to meet riders'
demands, and paratransit, which provides tailored service to people
with disabilities. Several different types of vehicles are ideal for
providing mobility in rural areas. The first vehicle type is a
privately owned automobile, such as a ride-hail vehicle or taxi. Many
rural areas have operated dial-a-ride taxi- or Uber-like service for
years. The second type of vehicle is a van that seats between seven and
15 people. These vans are often used for vanpools in urban areas but
can operate as flexible, mini-buses in rural areas. The vans can
transport multiple passengers from residential areas to places like
grocery stores and medical complexes. Taxis and ride-hail vehicles are
operated by private operators, such as Yellow Cab and Uber. Vans can be
operated by the public, private, or nonprofit sectors.
For either option, there are two principal ways for citizens to
schedule rides:
By phone or by website a day before the trip, in which case
a vehicle arrives at a set time the next day;
In real-time, in which case the vehicle arrives in a two-
three hour window the same day.
Recommendation Number 2: Contract Out Service or Create a Nonprofit To
Operate Service
While the public sector has been the traditional operator of
transit services, my research has revealed that contracted transit
services and services delivered by nonprofit agencies are better and
cheaper than public-sector provision. With contracted services, the
transit agency enters into a contract with a private operator, such as
First Transit or TransDev. These contracts can specify specific metrics
to ensure accountability and results. For example, contracts can detail
the maximum number of minutes a rider can be made to wait before being
picked up, the hours of day the service will operate, the geographic
locations the service must include along with any restrictions on the
service. Often, different geographic areas will be bundled together if
one area requires higher subsidies for operating transit than another
area.
Successfully contracting out service requires both carrots and
sticks. The transit operator must pay a penalty if it does not meet the
contractual standards. However, the transit operator can also receive
bonuses if it exceeds the standards and implements additional
improvements. These contracts are open to competition and re-bid every
3-to-7 years, with rigorous selection criteria, including the incumbent
providers' performance, used by the transit agency evaluating the bids.
Another possible rural transit model is having a nonprofit entity
operate the service. Rural Transit Service, which operates in upstate
New York, is a good model. In that case, the transit service southwest
of Buffalo relies on a network of 130 volunteers to drive and maintain
the vans, as well as handle administrative services. Most riders
contribute money to their trips, but no riders are denied service for
inability to pay. Community members also provide funding for the
service.
It is good public policy to subsidize a transit-dependent
individual, who otherwise would not be able to get to work and would
then need to rely on additional Government assistance. Absent transit
subsidies, for example, fixed-income retirees may not be able to reach
important medical appointments. It makes less sense to subsidize other
transit-choice riders who have the means to pay for the full costs of
their transit trips. In the U.S., it is clear that all transit systems
require some level of subsidies to operate, but the goal should always
be to minimize subsidies while providing quality transit services to
those most in need of them.
Recommendation Number 3: Reduce Regulations
One of the challenges that rural transit agencies have is abiding
by certain onerous Federal regulations. Some small counties, such as
Randolph County, Georgia, have actually chosen not to offer transit
service because, in part, officials say that they cannot afford the
staff needed to comply with regulations. To help reduce the burden on
these rural systems on things like the Federal Transit Administration's
National Transit Database reporting, the Federal Government could allow
systems below a certain size threshold to report data for their transit
agency profiles but make it optional for them to report full data for
the nine categories in the database, such as monthly ridership.
Congress could also eliminate costly mandates, such as Buy America,
provisions that drive up costs for local governments. Many of the vans
and innovative transit vehicles agencies use today are not made in the
U.S., limiting the types of vehicles that transit operators can use.
And because it limits competition, Buy America increases capital costs
for transit vehicles built in the United States by an estimated 32
percent. Federal officials should examine what existing laws can be
modified. For example, the Department of Transportation has proposed
amending 2132-AB38 on charter service regulations of buses and vanpools
and 2132-AB40 on bus testing. It is not clear what changes the Biden
administration would like to make at this time, but I would recommend
allowing more diverse ownership of charter service buses and ensuring
bus testing conforms to how buses operate in the real world.
Recommendation Number 4: Try To Improve Efficiency
Rural transit services typically struggle to cover even a small
share of their costs. My Reason Foundation colleague Marc Joffe and I
examined the National Transit Database to determine the farebox
recovery rate for rural systems. Most systems had a farebox recovery
rate of 5 to 25 percent, which lags larger urban transit agencies that
have farebox recovery rates of close to 40 percent. While several
systems had farebox recovery ratios above 90 percent, some system had
recovery rates below 1 percent. Transit systems with a farebox recovery
rates below 1 percent should not charge fares, as the collection costs
likely exceed the revenue collected. Rural transit services should set
a goal for a farebox recovery rate of 20 percent. To meet that goal,
reducing staff without reducing transit service by installing a
computerized dispatch system and ensuring that union contracts allow
flexibility in job duties can help. Leasing vehicles or transferring
liability coverage to a business association or larger Government may
help. Finally, determining exact business rules as to when a rider has
to request service and what the drivers can and cannot do above and
beyond the contract is critical.
Recommendation Number 5: Focus More on Local Funding Sources and Less
on Federal Funding
Funding is often the biggest challenge for rural transit systems.
The recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)
provides a 29 percent increase in guaranteed Federal transit funding to
$91 billion over 5 years. Rural transit can often be funded by several
different grant programs. There is a new $2 billion rural
transportation discretionary grant program dedicated to rural areas.
Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) and Rebuilding American
Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary
grants are required to award some funding to rural areas. However, my
research finds local government funding is more important than Federal
funding in prioritizing needed transit projects because local officials
know their communities best and focus more on the quality of a system
and less on getting the money out the door. The State and local funding
comes on top of Federal funding providing a more robust revenue source.
Further, State and local governments that provide a greater share of
funding for a project are more likely to receive Federal grants.
For example, North Carolina bundles Federal and State funds for all
100 counties into its Rural Operating Assistance Program to maximize
effectiveness and prioritize needed project and services. The State
distribution amounts are based on a formula that includes population,
geographic scope, and prior funding. In rural areas, this program has
two components: The Elderly and Disabled Transportation Assistance
Program and Rural General Public Transportation. The State also has a
Home and Community Block Grant program that provides funding for the
transportation of elderly residents. In addition, many local counties
and/or cities provide their own funding. In some counties for every
dollar of Federal funding, they receive three dollars of State and
local funding.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the need to
improve rural transit services to better serve transit-dependent
riders. I would be happy to answer any and all questions, either orally
or in writing.
RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR TESTER
FROM SCOTT BOGREN
Q.1. The large investment in transit in the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law will bring with it the need for more skilled
workers, including drivers. Finding drivers is hard in Montana
right now, for buses and trucks and everything else, and we
learned during the hearing that this is true across the
country. While the Biden administration is working to address
the driver shortage, at the same time there are new driver
training requirements for people trying to get their first
commercial driver's license. This is making it harder for new
drivers to get their CDL, and harder for transit agencies to
find drivers.
How are transit agencies across the country addressing the
commercial driver shortage? How are they adapting to the new
entry-level driver training requirements for CDLs? What can be
done to make sure that smaller rural transit authorities will
be able to find the workers they need going forward?
A.1. It is no secret or surprise that transit agencies are
having a difficult time recruiting and retaining new drivers.
Many transit systems are experiencing unprecedented levels of
shortages due to drivers being exposed to COVID-19, along with
other factors such as mass retirements.
In terms of recruiting and retaining new drivers, CTAA has
seen agencies implement a multitude of different methods.
Sunset Empire Transportation District (a rural system in
Oregon) and HIRTA (a rural system in Iowa) are working with
local correctional facilities to educate nonviolent offenders
on receiving their CDL. The Department of Corrections in Oregon
will allow selected trainees to leave prison to get their
behind-the-wheel experience before their sentences are up. If
they are also able to get their final testing completed, there
is the potential for trainees to walk out of prison with a CDL
in their hands. We've also seen a number of our members
institute competitive sign-on bonuses and increased wages.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's
implementation of its ``Entry Level Driver Training''
requirement for persons seeking their first CDLs or first CDL
passenger endorsements has presented a tremendous amount of
upheaval among many rural and smaller urban transit systems.
Even now, nearly 4 months into this new regulatory regime,
there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty among transit
agencies as to how, or whether, to incorporate CDL preparation
in their new-hire driver training programs. CTAA's members are
reporting many different approaches. Some have embraced the
FMCSA ELDT requirement, have become FMCSA-registered training
providers, and are proceeding down that path. Others have
dropped CDL preparation from their new-hire training programs,
and simply refer new hires to nearby CDL training entities that
are registered with FMCSA. For those transit agencies that had
not included CDL training prior to this FMCSA requirement, they
obviously have not had to change their practices. For a number
of our members, especially those in low-population rural areas
or whose focus is in specialized transportation services, this
FMCSA requirement, combined with the nationwide shortage of
CDL-holding drivers in all transportation sectors, is forcing a
reexamination of their fleets and driver credentialing
requirements, as they look to see if their operations can be
successfully and sustainably delivered through the use of
smaller vehicles and non-CDL drivers. In any case, our members
report that the timing of FMCSA's ELDT requirement could not
have been worse, coming as it did during a time when driver
shortages are at their most extreme in anyone's memory and when
the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and recently soaring
inflation are driving up fuel, supplies, and other operating
costs to levels beyond what many of our members can sustain
with their current budgets and Federal transit funding
allocations.
It is imperative that every transit agency in the country
remains flexible and updated on best practices in hiring new
employees. While the driver shortage crisis may seem far from
over, CTAA believes through increased peer-to-peer sharing and
driver recruitment trainings, transit providers can tap into
new resources and employment pools to find the employees they
need.
Q.2. Transit agencies across the country are moving to low- and
no-emission fleets for their buses. In some cases, smaller
agencies are proving to be more nimble in making this
transition than the bigger cities. For example, the Mountain
Line in Missoula, Montana, has already converted 40 percent of
its fixed-route bus fleet to battery-electric.
This represents a real opportunity for the country to make
a dent in its reliance on fossil fuels, if we manage the
transition well. One challenge will be the new skills and
expertise that we will expect from our transit workforce.
Electric buses have different maintenance requirements, and the
charging infrastructure needed for electric transit fleets are
significant.
Please discuss the experiences of your members in
implementing these new technologies and what the key challenges
are? How will the new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law make these
transitions easier?
A.2. Our members have experienced wide ranging successes and
challenges as it relates to transitioning towards low and no-
emission vehicles.
Current experiences include:
Mountain Line, in Missoula, Montana, have done a
fantastic job, as you noted, of experimenting with
different technologies. They have purchased a low-or-no
emission vehicle from each major vehicle vendor in this
space to see which technology best works for their
operations. Through their research, they have been on
the cutting-edge of information sharing for our
industry.
Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (Illinois)
is building their own hydrogen plant, which will be
solar powered, to fuel their zero emission vehicles.
IndyGo (Indianapolis, Indiana) is also working to
create a hydrogen facility. Ohio is working towards
building statewide hydrogen facilities.
Current challenges include:
Lacking sustainable relationships with utility
providers. This has been noted specifically as it
relates to pricing. Some of our members are breaking
even financially (or paying more) when using power
companies compared to using traditional fuel, when the
longterm goal is to save money when working with
utility providers.
Little to no infrastructure to support battery-
electric charging along their routes and across their
service areas. This is particularly noteworthy for our
rural members who have long-distances to travel.
Lack of industry knowledge as it relates to
maintenance best practices. Currently, most training is
done through the vendor of the vehicle.
Lack of inventory. The supply chain crisis is
industrywide. We've heard from our members that even
when they are able to finally place an order for a low-
or-no emission vehicle, the prices have risen
astronomically.
The current regulations on spare ratio makes it
difficult to electrify. It is not a one-for-one
replacement due to the time needed to charge. It would
be helpful to have increased flexibility for mixed
fleets.
In an effort to aid an agency's workforce as they move
towards this transition, we applaud the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law for amending the statutory provisions for
the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive and the Low
or No Emission Program to include a requirement that any
application for projects related to zero-emission vehicles
include a Zero-Emission Transition Plan. As part of the
transition plan, an applicant must ``Examine the impact of the
transition on the applicant's current workforce by identifying
skill gaps, training needs, and retraining needs of the
existing workers of the applicant to operate and maintain zero-
emission vehicles and related infrastructure and avoid
displacement of the existing workforce.'' This will allow for
enhanced workforce development as these transitions begin,
potentially creating new jobs as the demand for as the demand
for zero-emission vehicles grows.
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RESPONSES TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS OF SENATOR WARNOCK
FROM SCOTT BOGREN
Q.1. Ensuring public transportation is accessible and able to
safely and efficiently get Georgians where they need to go is a
priority for me. However, in 2022 there are still communities
throughout Georgia that have outdated transportation
infrastructure or don't have any public transportation at all.
In November 2021, President Biden signed the bipartisan
infrastructure package into law, which increased funding for
public transportation, including nearly $1.5 billion to support
transit service throughout Georgia's rural, suburban, small
urban, and metropolitan areas. As a result of this law, our
transit agencies can expect a more than 30 percent bump in
funding in the first year of the bipartisan infrastructure law.
As funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law begins to
flow, how can the Federal Government ensure State Departments
of Transportation are working with rural transit operators to
enable them to take advantage of this historic opportunity and
deliver for rural communities?
A.1. We encourage all State Departments of Transportation to
work closely with their rural subrecipients to keep them
informed of funding and grant opportunities as they arise. I'd
like to highlight the work done by the Washington State
Department of Transportation as they work hand-in-hand with
their rural partners.
Washington has a total of 32 transit agencies, 24 are
either small-urban or rural. During the pandemic, and beyond,
they evolved their public transportation division to provide:
funding flexibility, prompt grand awards, weekly messaging to
partners and efficient agency coordination. The State DOT also
released their 4-year ``Human Services Transportation Plan'',
which identifies unmet transportation needs and develops
strategies to address these needs. This plan ultimately creates
a cohesive coordination public transit effort to identify
regional priorities and ensure transportation needs are being
met. Through regular communication with their subrecipients,
rural providers are not only able to apply for grants as they
are available, but they are regularly engaged in the State's
transit deliberations.
Q.2. In the midst of a global pandemic and drastic cuts to
household budgets, rural transit systems played a critical role
in preserving public health and filling the gaps. Thanks to
rural transit operators' efforts to coordinate with public
health authorities, more Georgians were able to get vaccinated.
When I'm traveling throughout Georgia, I'm hearing and seeing
demand for more small urban and rural transit services to
connect Georgians to medical services, jobs, grocery stores,
recreational activities, and more.
In addition to the funding provided by the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law, what steps can Congress take to assist
smaller and more rural communities gain access to public
transportation?
A.2. We applaud Congress for taking the important steps
necessary to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. As noted
in the question, this historic investment has the potential to
provide life-changing transportation services to communities
across the country.
Throughout the pandemic and now entering our new normal,
CTAA's rural providers are concerned that they will be unable
to find the local match necessary to receive Federal funds.
Currently, the Federal share is 80 percent for capital projects
and 50 percent for operating assistance. By increasing the 50
percent Federal share for operating assistance, rural transit
providers would have increased local match flexibility. Last
year, Sen. Tina Smith introduced legislation (S. 267) that
would increase the Federal share for operating expenses in
communities that meet certain economic conditions. We look
forward to working with her office again in introducing similar
legislation during this Congressional session.
We also encourage Congress or the FTA to see that some of
the transit workforce program funding at Section 5314 is used
to identify and support industrywide strategies for examining
job retention within the transit workforce. As the driver
shortage continues to intensify across the country, identifying
and recruiting new employees is critical in maintaining current
service and providing new (or increased) service to underserved
communities.
As it relates to critical supply chain challenges, CTAA
urges Congressional enactment of 1-year exceptions to aspects
of statutory procurement requirements that can provide
temporary relief until a more normal order begins to return to
transit industry supply chains. Without vehicles or vehicle
parts, transit providers are unable to procure new vehicles or
replace aging fleets, which can ultimately lead to decreased
service in vulnerable communities.
LETTER SUBMITTED BY JOUNG LEE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR--CHIEF POLICY OFFICER,
AASHTO
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