Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Transit Operating Costs

How Transit Agencies Can Offer Better Paratransit Service at Lower Costs

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 20, 2016 | 2 Comments

Paratransit service for people with disabilities is a big part of what modern transit agencies do, and it’s getting bigger all the time. As the population ages and more people rely on paratransit to get around, agencies need to get smart about how they provide the service — or else rising costs will eat into their capacity […]

Why Transit Agencies Expand Even When They Struggle to Provide Service

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 18, 2014 | 4 Comments

New Orleans transit is in bad shape, as we reported recently. The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has never recovered from Hurricane Katrina and service is at about 36 percent of pre-storm levels despite the region’s population rebound. New Orleans’ frequent service lines have been slashed dramatically. Even newly built streetcar lines are running infrequently. […]

Lawmakers Push to Fund Transit Service During Economic Emergencies

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 19, 2011 | 2 Comments

In October, Reps. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and Steve LaTourette (R-OH) introduced a bill to allow transit agencies to use federal money to hire bus drivers and pay other operating expenses. Last week, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), along with Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced a Senate companion to the bill [PDF]. Like […]

Senate Banking Committee to Vote on Transit Section of Transpo Bill Friday

By Tanya Snyder | Dec 13, 2011 | No Comments

If the Banking Committee is going to make any progress on the transit section of the Senate transportation bill, it’s going to have to happen before this weekend, when Congress leaves for the holiday recess and doesn’t come back till late January. Indeed, on Friday, the very last day of the session, Banking is planning […]

Carnahan and LaTourette Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Bolster Transit Service

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 13, 2011 | No Comments

It’s a sign of the recession, but also symptomatic of a longstanding restriction on federal transit funding. In Lorain, Ohio and Albany, New York and other cities across the country, rows of brand new buses, paid for with stimulus money, have been laid up in garages. Despite falling revenues, these recession-battered transit agencies might be […]

Absent a Transportation Bill, DOT Can Innovate All On Its Own

By Tanya Snyder | Aug 10, 2011 | 2 Comments

As Deron Lovaas said this morning on NRDC’s Switchboard blog, “If recent events are any indicator, it might take Congress a while to agree on a policy that will put our underfunded, inefficient, oil-dependent transportation program on the right track.” Well now, that’s an understatement. Between the uncertainty of the supercommittee and the bicameral bickering […]

Show More Stories