[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 14, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E923-E924]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF THE SAVING ENERGY THROUGH PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ACT OF 
                                  2008

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 14, 2008

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Madam Speaker, together with Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member John L. Mica and Highways and 
Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter A. DeFazio, I am pleased to 
introduce H.R. 6052, the ``Saving Energy Through Public Transportation 
Act of 2008.''
  We are introducing this bill to promote energy savings through 
increased public transportation use in the United States. Recently, 
public transportation has experienced a renaissance in American cities 
and towns. In 2007, Americans took over 10.3 billion trips on public 
transportation, the highest level in 50 years. Public transportation 
use is up 32 percent since 1995, a figure that is more than double the 
growth rate of the population and is substantially over the growth rate 
for the vehicle miles traveled on our Nation's highways for that same 
period. All around the country, voters continue to approve state and 
local ballot initiatives to support public transportation, even when it 
means local taxes will be raised or continued.
  As the price of gas approaches $4 a gallon, even more commuters are 
choosing to ride the train or the bus to work rather than drive alone 
in their cars. Transit systems in metropolitan areas are reporting 
increases in ridership of 5, 10, and even 15 percent over last year's 
figures. Some of the biggest increases in ridership are occurring in 
many areas in the South and West where new bus and light rail lines 
have been built in the last few years.

[[Page E924]]

  Meeting this impressive new demand for public transportation services 
is no small task for our transit agencies. While recordbreaking numbers 
of commuters are riding transit, the cost of fuel and power for public 
transportation has sharply increased, and the slowing economy means 
less local money is available to increase or even maintain transit 
services. This bill provides much needed support to public 
transportation agencies and increases incentives for commuters to 
choose transit options, thereby reducing their transportation-related 
energy consumption and reliance on foreign oil.
  A primary objective of H.R. 6052, the ``Saving Energy Through Public 
Transportation Act of 2008,'' is to reduce the United States dependence 
on foreign oil by encouraging more people to use public transportation. 
According to a recent study, if Americans used public transit at the 
same rate as Europeans--for roughly 10 percent of their daily travel 
needs--the United States could reduce its dependence on imported oil by 
more than 40 percent, nearly equal to the 550 million barrels of crude 
oil that we import from Saudi Arabia each year.
  To increase public transportation use across the United States, H.R. 
6052, the ``Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act of 2008,'' 
authorizes $1.7 billion in funding over 2 years for transit agencies 
nationwide that are temporarily reducing transit fares or expanding 
transit services to meet the needs of the growing number of transit 
commuters. The National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study 
Commission, established to develop a national transportation vision 
to address surface transportation needs for the next 50 years, calls 
for a total annual investment of between $26 billion to $46 billion for 
public transportation. We consider this bill an important first step in 
increasing our investment in public transit infrastructure.

  H.R. 6052 also increases the Federal share for clean fuel and 
alternative fuel transit bus, ferry or locomotive-related equipment or 
facilities, thereby assisting transit agencies in reducing 
transportation-related emissions. In fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the 
increased Federal share for these activities is 100 percent of the net 
capital cost of the project. Public transportation use is estimated to 
reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 37 million metric tons annually. 
When a solo commuter switches from a single occupancy vehicle to a 
transit commute, this single mode shift can reduce carbon dioxide 
emissions by 20 pounds per day--more than 4,800 pounds in a year. This 
provision will allow American commuters to further decrease their 
greenhouse gas emissions.
  H.R. 6052 also extends the Federal transit pass benefits program to 
require that all Federal agencies offer transit passes to Federal 
employees throughout the United States. Current law requires that all 
Federal agencies within the National Capital Region implement a transit 
pass fringe benefits program and offer employees transit passes. This 
requirement originated from Executive Order 13150, signed by President 
Clinton on April 21, 2000. The Executive Order also required the 
Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and 
the Department of Energy to implement a nationwide 3-year pilot transit 
pass benefit program for all qualified Federal employees of those 
agencies.
  Data from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority 
covering the first 3 years of the National Capital Region transit pass 
program show that more than 15,500 automobiles were eliminated from 
roads in the Washington, DC, area as a result of Federal employees 
shifting their travel mode away from single occupancy vehicle, SOV, use 
to public transportation use for commuting to work. The Department of 
Transportation estimated that emissions and energy savings from this 
mode shift included the reduction of more than 8 million gallons of 
gasoline, nearly 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide, and over 675 tons of 
carbon monoxide for each of the 3 years that they studied. DOT also 
studied the results of the nationwide pilot program and found that, 
within the three covered agencies, 11 percent of the participants 
shifted their travel mode away from SOV use to public transportation 
use for commuting to work, again producing marked energy and emissions 
savings, reduced congestion and cleaner air.
  The Department of Transportation has determined that both the 
National Capital Region transit benefits program and the nationwide 
pilot program produce marked energy and emissions savings, congestion 
reductions, and cleaner air, and recommends that the transit pass 
benefits program be extended to Federal employees nationwide. This 
provision will implement the Department's recommendation by providing 
more Federal employees the incentives to choose transit options, 
thereby reducing their transportation-related energy consumption and 
reliance on foreign oil.
  H.R. 6052 also creates a pilot program to allow the amount expended 
by private providers of public transportation by vanpool for the 
acquisition of vans to be used as the non-Federal share for matching 
Federal transit funds in five communities. Under current law, only 
local public funds may be used as local match; this pilot program would 
allow private funds to be used in limited circumstances.
  The provision will require the private providers of vanpool services 
to use revenues they receive in providing public transportation, in 
excess of their operating costs, for the purpose of acquiring vans, 
excluding any amounts that the providers may have received in Federal, 
State, or local government assistance for such acquisition. The 
Department of Transportation will implement and oversee the vanpool 
pilot projects, and will report back to Congress on the costs, 
benefits, and efficiencies of the vanpool projects.
  Finally, H.R. 6052, the ``Saving Energy Through Public Transportation 
Act of 2008,'' increases the Federal share for additional parking 
facilities at end-of-line fixed guideway stations. This provision 
increases the total number of transit commuters who will have access to 
those facilities.
  Public transportation use in all of its forms--bus, rail, vanpool, 
ferry, streetcar, and subway ridership to name a few--saves fuel, 
reduces emissions, and saves money. The direct petroleum savings 
attributable to current public transportation use in the United States 
is 1.4 billion gallons per year. When the secondary effects of transit 
availability on travel are also taken into account, the equivalent of 
4.2 billion gallons of gasoline is saved annually--more than 11 million 
gallons of gasoline per day.
  Increasing public transportation use by providing incentives for 
commuters to choose transit options, thereby reducing their 
transportation-related energy consumption and reliance on foreign oil, 
as well as decreasing their greenhouse gas emissions, is a priority of 
this Congress.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this important 
legislation.

                          ____________________