And You Thought MARTA’s Problems Were Bad…
Decatur Metro | June 6, 2009 | 2:41 pmMARTA’s had a lot of bad press lately, thanks to a sales tax shortfall and a do nothing legislature, so I thought it would be only fair to give a little equal time to our insolvent highway fund.
This morning’s NY Times reports that the Federal Highway Fund is insanely low on cash and desperately needs to be revamped, since it’s no longer paying for itself. However, it’s still unclear whether Congress will make the change.
The most contentious question – how to pay for it all – took on a new urgency this week when officials announced that the source of most transportation money would run dry this summer for the second year in a row.
The bulk of the money in the federal Highway Trust Fund comes from the federal gasoline tax, as well as from a tax on truck sales. Lawmakers said they might be forced to bail out the fund in August with $5 billion to $7 billion from general tax revenues, just a year after they provided it with an $8 billion bailout.
Oh, and here’s the best part!
The federal gas tax is not a percentage of the amount of money spent, like a sales tax, but rather a flat 18.4-cent tax levied on each gallon of gasoline sold. It has not been raised since 1993, even as the price of gas has doubled. Officials also say inflation has eroded about a third of the tax’s purchasing power since 1993.
Unlike MARTA, the Federal Highway Fund can be bailed out quite easily by it’s namesake, avoiding much of the press and criticism that comes with having to publicly appeal to an unsympathetic legislature. Thank goodness! Now everyone can go on thinking that roads just pave and build themselves, while scorning public transportation for being the supreme model of high costs and low efficiency.
Are other cities’ public transport entangled or stymied by fine print a manner equivalent to MARTA?
The ineptness of our Federal Government is staggering.
Question….What s the difference of states leveraging ADDITIONAL taxes on top of the FedTax?
Also, last time I checked our President stated he was on the spot with “shovel ready’ projects. It was thoroughly reported that our crumbling infrastructure was a key priority.
So? Where is it?
It funny because you can not compare MARTA to highway construction–one has to pander and beg for MONEY while the other has to hang around long enough for the next JOB.
[Read as] It’s funny…
good post.
One thing- Ironically the Hgihway trust fund is also the key funding source for the Federal Transit Authority. Lahood, Biden, and others are serioiusly looking at putting more the highway trust fund into transit funding. Also SAFETEA-LU, the 6 year bill which appropriates transportation improvements is up for renewal this year.
Indeed Jay. 5 to 1 right?
All I’m really trying to say here is that it’s not just transit that can’t pay it’s bills, it’s the whole darn transportation system…so you can’t argue against transit just because it’s financial model is screwed up, because highways aren’t an sustainable economic alternative.
So, if someone wants to argue in favor of a car-culture, they should be arguing convenience or something.
MARTA Shrinks While Expanding Services To Suburbs
By Dr. Robert D. Bullard
It was less than a year ago (January 1, 2001) that MARTA raised its one-way cash fare from $1.50 to $1.75, a whopping 17 percent increase (Click HERE for more information on the fare increase). The fare increase sparked citizen outrage, protests and hearings. A citizens coalition even filed a discrimination complaint with the Federal Transit Administration. Fulton and DeKalb residents were assured that the fair increase would solve the budget problem. The fare took place at the same time that MARTA opened two sparkling new stations (Sandy Spring and North Springs) in the northern suburbs. MARTA has a $20 million shortfall. In response to this $20 million deficit, nearly 100 MARTA bus routes throughout Atlanta, DeKalb and Fulton counties will be eliminated or reduced under a proposal unanimously approved by the board of directors. The cuts include eliminating 36 routes, eliminating weekend service on 26 routes, reducing weekend service on 35 routes, and reducing frequency of trains. It would also reduce the transcard discounts for students and bulk purchases. In addition to route cuts, other proposed cost-saving measures include two-week furloughs or unpaid leaves for 700 non-union administrative employees, including General Manager Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr. and his senior staff.
It is somewhat paradoxical that MARTA is expanding services outside of Fulton and DeKalb at the same time that it is cutting back services to its core riders. Only Fulton and DeKalb resident pay the one-cent sales tax to support MARTA. Yet, riders from outside MARTA’s taxing district reap the benefits of the three-decade old system. There is talk of running express buses all the way to Macon. Similarly, MARTA is assisting two outlying suburban counties (Gwinnett and Clayton) enter the transit field. Gwinnett and Clayton recently started bus systems – even in the sluggish Metro Atlanta economy. It is also ironic that these two suburban counties opted out of MARTA three decades ago, yet they have representatives that serve on MARTA’s board. The Gwinnett and Clayton MARTA board members voted a year ago for the fair increase and in December for the service cuts for Atlanta, Fulton, and DeKalb residents.
Clearly, MARTA needs state funding. This problem is not foreign to the state. For example, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) executive director, Catherine Ross, serves on the MARTA board. GRTA has the power and mandate to bring some sense to this chaotic public transit situation. GRTA has not flexed its muscle on regional transit. It has facilitated suburban systems (Gwinnett and Clayton) to come on line at the same time MARTA, the region’s most mature and far-reaching system, to falter. Current trends point toward the creation of “separate and unequal” transit systems in the region.
GRTA and the state need to act. The current patchwork of small suburban transit fiefdoms simply won’t work in the best interest of the region. Fulton and DeKalb residents have carried the regional transportation burden long enough. It is time for the state to provide leader and kick in funds to support regional transit. Georgia is one of 10 states does not provide state support for urban transit operations. Without state assistance in planning a regional transit system (seamless, linked, coordinated, and uniform fare structure), Fulton and DeKalb taxpayers will likely see an annual repeat of this shortsighted band-aid financial management. The MARTA cuts are expected to take effect by March 2002 and are expected to save $3.8 million this budget cycle and $15.1 million the following year. Before the proposed changes can take effect in March 2002, MARTA is required to hold public hearings. Comments can be sent to MARTA Customer Service or visit MARTA’s website at http://www.itsmarta.com.