The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a sprawling $1.2 trillion spending bill that includes nearly $40 billion in additional money for local public transit, is about to force transit agencies and local governments to find new revenues to match the beefed-up federal grant dollars. Difficult choices will need to be made now — think new tax increment financing districts, congestion pricing or repurposing of existing public funds — or IIJA grant dollars will be left on the table.
Mandates on how IIJA dollars can be spent only increase pressure placed on local governments and transit agencies. Unlike the COVID-19 relief bills, which included funding to support operational expenses, much of the IIJA’s public transit funds must be spent on capital projects.
...
The rest of this article can be found at Governing's website, Governing.com.
Public transit is pushing growing volumes of data onto cloud networks, exposing providers to new risks that are only growing.
Read MorePublic transit is in an unprecedented moment of crisis. Riders have abandoned public transit as the novel coronavirus spreads, and there are plenty of warning signs that they may not soon return. Can public transit agencies bring these passengers back, or will these passengers stay permanently away? The solution will come only after a fundamental evaluation of what a public transit agency does.
Read More