MARCH 2006


Be In the Know

Sprinter Project Update
To date, 21 of 36 at-grade intersections along the SPRINTER line have had crossing panels installed and underground conduit work completed. Final asphalt paving will take care of uneven pavement but it will take some time before final paving is completed at every intersection. As with any construction project of this size and spanning 22 miles, some people may be inconvenienced during construction. However, the SPRINTER general contractor is working diligently to minimize construction related issues in the rail corridor. As a reminder, your friends and family can get the latest construction information at www.gonctd.com. Click on SPRINTER or call the hot line at 760-599-8332. Back in Germany, three of the 12 DMU vehicles are in production.

San Luis Rey Transit Center - in Oceanside
The North River Village/San Luis Rey Transit Center is planned to be a joint use project, to include a bus transit center, 106 condominiums and commercial retail space. It is proposed to be located on 9.8 acres at the southeast corner of the North River Road and Vandegrift Blvd. in Oceanside. 25 residents from the community attended the meeting on Feb. 28 to learn about the proposed transit center. Some were concerned about the environmental impact, while others were concerned about the service to the Wal-Mart on College Blvd. However, none of the attendees expressed outright opposition. Bus routes that run in the area will continue to serve Wal-Mart, but the transit center could not be located in the Wal-Mart shopping center near Highway 76 because of limited space. The $4.5 million transit center should be completed in 2008.

On Capitol Hill
Both the House and Senate are in recess during the week of March 20th. The Senate will return to session on Monday, March 27 to resume its consideration of lobbying reform and the House will return the following day. After completing action on a lobbying bill, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) is expected to bring one of the pending immigration bills to be considered by the full Senate. Before recess the House passed another emergency supplemental spending bill, providing $91.9 billion in new funds for Iraq and Hurricane Katrina recovery. The bill does not direct any funding to the Federal Transit Administration, but it does provide funding for FEMA's Disaster Relief program and the Community Development Block Grant program, programs that have supported transit redevelopment as part of recovery efforts to date. The Senate will act on the bill at an undetermined time following the recess. Senate leadership may bring immigration reform and lobbying reform to the floor before scheduling the supplemental funding package.

Last week, the Senate approved its version of the FY 2007 budget resolution in a tight 51-49 vote. Prior to the final vote, the Senate adopted an amendment by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) supporting rail and transit security grants receiving $200 million in FY 2007, a $50 million increase over the current fiscal year. Passage of the amendment does not ensure the increase because budget resolutions are merely "blueprints" and are not binding on the congressional spending committees. However, the amendment is not meaningless because it gives additional resources to the spending committees and creates a legislative record of support for an increase. An amendment by Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) supporting a larger increase in transit security and other homeland security programs was defeated 43-53 earlier in the day.

EESI: Greater Use of Public Transportation Means a Decline in U.S. Oil Consumption On March 8th, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), a Washington, DC- based think tank that promotes environmentally sustainable policies hosted a briefing on the role of transit-oriented strategies in reducing energy consumption. By decreasing the number of car trips made by Americans each day, transit helps lower smog-forming emissions and greenhouse gases and improves public health.

President Bush declared that America is "addicted to oil," calling for reduced petroleum use in his 2006 State of the Union address. In 2005, oil imports hit record highs of 10.8 million barrels per day with more than two-thirds of it consumed by the nation's transportation modes. Vehicle miles traveled (VMT), or the number of miles traveled by automobiles each year, has rapidly increased over the past 15 years, resulting in clogged highways, increased energy consumption and air pollution, and expanded sprawl. With accompanying gas prices skyrocketing, Americans are increasingly looking to reduce the burden of high transportation costs. Strategies such as transit-oriented development (TOD), congestion pricing in conjunction with transit provisions, provides sustained support for existing public transportation.

Transit-oriented development (TOD), characterized by mixed-use development with a network of streets conducive for walking and biking, has helped boost transit ridership as well as spur economic development. TOD projects in Atlanta and Dallas have attracted $1 billion in private investment. In Evanston, Illinois, TOD has helped increase transit ridership between 60 - 155 percent, prompting property values to grow by 40 percent.

Congestion pricing, which is the policy of setting higher prices under congested conditions and lower prices at less congested times and locations, is another strategy designed to reduce driving and spur transit. In London, congestion pricing has resulted in a 14 percent increase in bus ridership while decreasing congestion by 30 percent. Increased city revenues have also allowed for greater investment in transit.

In 2005, high gas prices saw national transit ridership go up 2.1 percent with some cities such as Minneapolis, Houston, Galveston and Newark showing even more robust growth. According to the American Public Transportation Association, public transportation saves more than 855 million gallons of gasoline each year.

Experts suggest that if Americans used transit for 10 percent of their transportation needs, the United States would reduce its dependence on foreign oil by more than 40 percent. Despite the numerous benefits offered by transit and the President's call to reduce oil consumption, the FY 2007 budget request funds transit at $8.87 billion, $100 million below levels authorized in the recently enacted Transportation Bill, Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy For Users (SAFETEA-LU, P.L 109-59).