TRANSPORTATION FOR AMERICA Senate vs.

House bill comparison March 2012

Issue National Goals & Performance Measures Senate Bill (S1813) Commerce Committee title establishes national transportation goals and performance measures Requires states and MPOs to use performance measures in long-range planning and short-term programming processes Consolidated highway program requires at least 60% of funds spent on repair, requires to DOT establish minimum condition levels and includes penalties for not meeting them. Repair of non-National Highway System bridges are eligible under the flexible 40% pot of this consolidated highway program. States must establish targets for infrastructure condition Ties planning to performance-oriented goals and defines scenario planning. Divides MPOs into tiers by size. Funds for suballocation roughly equivalent but percent share decreased. House Bill (HR7) House Amendments Contains no comprehensive national goals. Requires US DOT to establish a qualitative national goal but the intent is unclear. Requires states to establish performance measures for a broad set of target areas Consolidated highway program requires reporting on progress towards state of good repair by states. There are penalties if a States NHS or off-system bridges are very bad (10% of NHS deck area structurally deficient or 15% of offsystem bridges are structurally deficient). Boswell 116 Establishes minimum levels standard for NHS bridges and requires funds to be spent on bridge repair unless states meet the levels Boswell 117 Requires states with a significant number of federalaid bridges to spend funds on their repair Nadler 25 This amendment would restore the ability of metro regions to develop a transportation plan that meets their community needs without unilateral amendment by the Governor LaTourette/Carnahan 16 This amendment would allow all transit agencies to use a portion of their federal transit funding for operating expenses during times of economic crisis.

State of Good Repair

Planning & Suballocation

Suballocation roughly equivalent but percent share decreased. Penalties for not meeting minimum bridge requirements could reduce funds available for MPOs. Allows states to override local planning decisions for projects on Interstates Original bill ends 30 years of dedicated funding for public transit. Allows TOD loans as eligible expense under TIFIA program Does not provide large transit operators with flexibility to spend funds on operating assistance. Eliminates most dedicated funding for bicycling & walking. Keeps eligibility in STP program but deletes numerous references

Transit & TOD

Continues dedicated funding for public transit at traditional 20 percent share. Some flexibility for funds to be spent on transit operations. New TOD planning program in Banking title.

Bicycle & Pedestrian

Consolidates programs for bike/ped and other local projects into a single program 50% of funds are suballocated. States and

Petri-Blumenauer 103 Creates consolidated program for bike/ped and other local projects and provides local governments

TRANSPORTATION FOR AMERICA Senate vs. House bill comparison March 2012
MPOs must create competitive grant process to distribute the funding to local communities. Commerce Committee title includes new Complete Streets provision. Rural Issues Ensures rural roads are properly considered for safety projects. Provides flexibility to invest in street networks. Consolidates rural and specialized transit programs Retains CMAQ program but with new focus on PM2.5 (diesel emissions). Air quality not included in new statewide planning goals. Workforce Development Requires urban transit agencies to spend portion of funds on workforce development activities. Requires National, Regional and State comprehensive passenger and freight rail plans, including a Northeast corridor high speed rail plan. Includes Amtrak authorization language and adds eligibility for other high speed rail projects. Establishes new national freight program and new national freight strategic plan. Allows up to 10 percent of highway freight program and 5 percent of flexible Transportation Mobility Program funds to be spent on rail. States and regions must establish performance targets for freight movement throughout bill that encourage multimodal projects. Retains the Recreational Trails program. access to new consolidated pot of funding.

Ensures rural roads are properly considered for safety projects Consolidates rural and specialized transit programs.

Congestion and Air Quality

Moves CMAQ program into the Alternative Transit Account. Allows construction of single occupant vehicle projects with funds.

Ellison 97/Blumenauer 191 Restores CMAQ program to original intent.

No new workforce development provisions.

Passenger Rail

Includes Amtrak authorization language. 2025% cut in operating funds. No high speed rail funding.

Freight

No new freight program. Encourages States to form freight plans tied to achieving broad goals.