Here is a guest response from Linda Bohlinger, Director of National Management Consulting for
HNTB Corporation:

Adequate funding begins with effectively leveraging the limited federal dollars that will be available moving forward.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa should be commended for supporting the expansion of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program as part of his America Fast Forward initiative. His admirable vision for completing 30 years’ worth of LA Metro transit projects in the next 10 years most likely will need to rely on support from TIFIA.

Without TIFIA, some of the most significant transportation projects of the last 14 years would have been delayed or deferred due to their size, complexity or uncertainty over the timing of forecasted revenues. According to the Federal Highway Administration, which handles the program, each dollar of federal funds can provide up to $10 in TIFIA credit assistance, and leverage $30 of overall investment in transportation infrastructure.

Expanding this popular federal credit assistance program – increasing the program to $1 billion annually, as both the House and Senate have proposed – will trigger $10 billion in loans each year. Streamlining the program’s administration also will allow more money to flow to more projects more quickly, driving job creation and economic development. For example, LA Metro has advocated for allowing a master credit agreement with TIFIA to secure loan commitments on a number of related projects at one time.

Another reason Mayor Villaraigosa’s proposal is so commendable is its regionalized vision for the future. It’s something we’ve been missing for a while.

The Greater Los Angeles region – and our entire country – is dependent on a healthy transportation system for its long-term economic competitiveness and the viability of its quality of life. Without transit, the system isn’t whole and cannot offer mobility choices for the public.

Public transportation is vital to the success of any modern multimodal transportation system. Southern California has taken major steps toward breaking free of its car-crazed culture. More work, a solid unified commitment of leadership and strong messaging for greater acceptance of multiple modes of public transportation is ongoing and needed.

Leveraging investment dollars for transportation projects will create jobs and encourage sustainable economic development. Big picture thinking to understand choices and consequences will lead us to a productive, prosperous and sustainable future for transit.

For more about transit in Southern California, read HNTB’s THINK: Infrastructure Forum transcript.

Mayor Villaraigosa is wise to seek transit money in Washington, because his own voters would never pay for his “mega public transportation” projects. But in Washington he can find support from community organizers such as Laura Barrett who are expert at persuading members of congress to appropriate money they do not have for projects that customers do not want to pay for.

“Is it appropriate to focus so much attention on public transportation”? Yes, as that is where the lobbying money is. And as building rail is so much more profitable than building roads, most of the lobbying is for rail.

Does that mean that only bankrupt governments, urged on by lobbyists, can finance public transport? In the USA this may well be so, as most urban areas prohibit public transport by shared taxis or associations of minibus-owners that can offer unsubsidized, high-frequency, seated services. Such services are common worldwide and some are to be found even in the US, e.g. in Atlantic City (legally) and in New York City (illegally).

If legalized and regulated for safety they could meet most transit needs.

It's certainly noteworthy that ambitious, forward-thinking mayors are turning to transit as one of the best community-building mechanisms available. Apparently, winds of change are blowing in the USDOT as well. Administrator Rogoff of the Federal Transit Authority told the Transportation Equity Network's annual conference last week that he is working to increase the number of new bus rapid transit and light rail projects that FTA supports. He wants to support both transit-dependent riders and choice riders. When we as a nation invest in TIGER grants or the Sustainable Communities program, we're helping to create transit, jobs, and sustainable communities - goals we can all get behind.

In the meantime, riders are voting with their feet. According to the APTA study that was released today, 10.4 billion trips were taken on US public transit in 2011. This is the second highest annual ridership since 1957. Americans are choosing to take transit, even in cities that don't experience daunting traffic. In my hometown of St. Louis, light rail ridership increased by 10% over the last year. Surprisingly, rural communities experienced the biggest jump - in cities under 100,000, transit ridership increased by 5.4% according to ATPA.

When transit systems and other infrastructure projects are created, we need to ensure that any public-private partnership is accountable to the taxpayer. Senator Durbin and others are working to make public-private partnerships more transparent. It's a part of the equation that we just can't ignore. As the USPIRG points out, lax oversight could lead us down the road to another Enron.