TEA-21 REAUTHORIZATION

Iowa's nineteen urban and sixteen regional transit systems provide valuable transportation service to citizens in all parts of the state. The public transit systems provide Iowans with the transportation choices necessary to maintain access to work, school, medical facilities, meal sites, and leisure activities. Transit service is especially critical to "transportation limited or transportation disadvantaged" Iowans for whom transit is their only viable option for moving around the state. The transportation bill must recognize the importance of transit services provided by bus transportation agencies in small urban and rural areas. Specifically:

• Increase funding for the bus and bus related facilities portion of the Capital Investment Program (Section 5309) from the current 20 percent to 33 percent of the program. Bus replacement should receive priority over facilities in the bus portion of the program.
  
• Increase funding for the non-urbanized formula program, the elderly and persons with disabilities program and the bus replacement and operations funding for small urban and rural areas in recognition of the importance of transit services in small urban and rural areas.
  
• Maintain TEA-21 guaranteed funding, firewall protection of the mass transit portion of the Highway Trust Fund, and continued general fund contribution to transit services.
  
• Develop a minimum guarantee funding distribution formula for transit similar to the minimum guarantee for the highway program. Typically, less than half of the dollars Iowa contributes to the Transit Account of the HTF are returned to us in federal transit funding.
  
• Change the Intercity Bus Assistance Program to allow states more flexibility in determining the amount of funding necessary to accomplish intercity goals, or change the funding for the intercity bus program from the Non-urbanized Area Formula Program to a program with its own funding.
  
• Continue the Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) program, maintaining the ability to use other federal programs such as Welfare to Work and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) as match.
  
• Change the formula used to allocate funds for transit in small urban areas to reflect performance factors as is done in the larger urbanized areas.
  
• The New Starts portion of the Capital Investment Program now receives 40 percent funding and should be reviewed for feasibility, effectiveness, and long term funding implications prior to commitment for future funds.
  
• Streamline the administration of federal transit programs in addition to analyzing the applicability of some regulations on smaller transit systems. For example, small urban and rural systems receiving JARC or Capital Investment Grant funds should be provided flexibility when faced with the regulations required of larger urban systems.
  
• Encourage coordination of transportation services among agencies and review charter rules to make the most efficient use of the transportation dollars.
  
• Avoid new set-asides, sub-categories or sub-allocations from current transit program funds or the creation of new programs.
  
• Allow the transportation of children under the Head Start program by public transit vehicles as alternative vehicles if they meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for rollover protection, body panel joint strength, fuel system integrity and restraint systems. The vehicles should not be required to be signed as a school bus, have stop arms, or compartmentalized seating. This would modify the Head Start transportation rule (45 CFR 1310) administered by Health and Human Services.
  

Download the 2005 IPTA Federal Legislative Brochure (PDF Format)