Think Regional/Act Local

The transportation news has been grim over the past several months and I have tried to faithfully report every bit of it. I thought today, I would deviate from that script and report on some good news for a change!

This past week, I attended the dedication of a new terminal at Oakland County International Airport. It’s not just a new terminal, but a new “green” terminal – the nation’s first general aviation “green” terminal. The new terminal is significant for a couple of reasons. First, it replaces a 50-year-old obsolete and expensive-to-operate terminal building. Second, the new terminal is the first LEED-certified building in the county.

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally recognized green building certification system. The new terminal has a number of features that warranted the certification, including:

• Geothermal heating and cooling of the building
• Solar water heating
• LED and fluorescent lighting
• Rain gardens and bioswales to handle runoff
• Wind generation of electricity
• A “living wall” of plants that helps purify the air

Oakland County International Airport is the state’s second busiest airport. So, let’s summarize. The second-busiest airport in the state replaces a 50-year-old inefficient and expensive terminal with a new, energy-efficient terminal that will be cheaper to operate, creates a positive first experience, and can enhance the economic impact of the airport. We could use more good news like this!

Well, as B.B. King once sang, “The thrill is gone”! So soon? Despite very public statements by both the House and Senate leaders, it looks like any hope for reauthorization of SAFETEA-LU this year is history, and maybe for the next two years! Why? What happened? Well, consider the following:

1. Time has run out for the relatively complicated process to bring all of the parties together to pass a long-term bill
2. The contentious debt limit fight will occupy center stage
3. Reauthorization of the federal gas tax is not a slam dunk
4. The need to agree on a FY12 budget
5. No one wants to give in

The situation is even worse when you begin to consider content issues given that there appears to be very little agreement on funding levels, length of the bill, and other content issues.

The real scary thing, though, is that things can still get even worse. By September 30, Congress has to vote to extend the federal gas tax and other highway user taxes. The existing authority is set to expire for the first time since 2005. Normally, this would be an automatic thing – not any more. There are already reports of efforts by various members of Congress to end the federal gas tax and let states raise their own taxes.

Wonder what the gas tax in Alaska would have to be to provide the same funding that they get right now?

This effort is not likely to succeed, but it is an indication of the philosophical disagreement between the different factions in Congress and a reminder that nothing is going to be easy.

Stay tuned and by the way, remember this. No matter how the debt reduction issue is resolved, transportation funding will be cut – we just don’t know by how much.

Lots of transit talk over the past couple of weeks. Light rail moving forward on Woodward. Funding applied for alternatives analysis to extend higher level of transit on Woodward from 8 Mile to 15 Mile. The governor names a person to work on transit in Southeast Michigan. A panel of transit experts holds a meeting at Wayne State with the Federal Transit Administrator to give us advice on how to implement a transit plan, including light rail. Lots of positive energy. Well, I don’t want to be the one who rains on this parade, but there are huge issues that still need to be addressed if transit is to go forward.

As we move forward with plans to implement higher levels of transit – and we should move forward – we need to understand that the bus systems that will feed these higher level transit modes are failing. Why? Lack of funding from federal, state, and local sources is why. If we can’t fund the operation of the DDOT and SMART systems to adequate levels, how are we going to fund the operation of the light rail? Are we going to rob Peter (bus operation) to pay Paul (light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit)? Not a good choice in my opinion.

As encouraged as I am about the possibilities for higher level transit, I am just as concerned that no one appears to be working on the funding solutions needed to help ensure success. This is one reason I welcome Governor Snyder’s interest and involvement. The governance and funding issues could de-rail plans for higher level of transit and continue the inadequate levels of bus service.

We need a regional transit authority to take the lead and speak with one voice on transit issues. Now, we have the City of Detroit, the SMART Board, the DTC (People Mover), and there is discussion of yet another authority to run the Woodward Light Rail. Who coordinates this mess? Are all of these entities going to compete against each other for an ever shrinking pot of money?

An RTA will need to make those decisions and is key in being able to secure local funding to keep the system viable.

Let’s keep moving forward on the necessary planning activities for light rail, but don’t put your head in the sand and think we can have all these things with the inadequate amount of funding we have now. We can’t.

The Federal Aviation Administration program authorizations lapsed at midnight last Friday when Congress was unable to agree on the conditions for the 21st short-term extension since the last multiyear FAA bill expired on Sept. 30, 2007. Twenty-one short-term extensions over four years! It does not appear that there will ever be another long-term FAA bill. So, what happens when Congress makes a decision to not make a decision? Well, in this case it means:

• Some 4,000 FAA employees in 35 states were furloughed or forced to work without pay. Air traffic controllers, however, are designated as emergency personnel and will stay on the job.
• Airline ticket taxes deposited into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund will not be collected. Receipts from such taxes normally amount to approximately $200 million a week.
• No new airport construction projects will be funded.

Incredible, isn’t it? Money for crucial projects is one of the issues and, as a result of the non-action by Congress, they are losing $200 million a week! Still think this one can be solved? As usual, the House blames the Senate and the Senate blames the House – I am not sure that the facts even matter after 21 tries at a long-term bill.

So where are we? Well after almost a week of this nonsense, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood used some administrative power granted him by the House to temporarily solve the impasse and put people back to work. The issues remain and nothing has been fixed. This just continues what is becoming a pattern of how Congress addresses disagreements on important issues. Rather than identify a long-term solution through meaningful dialogue and compromise, they pass a continuation and then another and another without ever resolving the differences of opinion. It is no way to run a program and does us all a disservice. How can you make long-term decisions on anything if you don’t know where you are going?

I fear that this is just the beginning. The federal transportation bill has been extended through the end of the calendar year and both the House and the Senate have made noise about having a new bill by the end of the year. Right now, their proposals are about as different as they could be. Long-term solution, another extension, or just let the thing lapse to cause a crisis? Care to bet the farm on this one? Me neither!

You know, Michigan is not the only place struggling with an underfunded transportation system. Many states are having the same problem – traditional funding mechanisms are not providing needed funds to improve transportation infrastructure, the infrastructure getting progressively worse, and state legislatures not stepping up to the plate to provide additional funding.

The Texas Transportation Commission recently completed an analysis of their state transportation system. Guess what their analysis indicated? “Without significant new dollars, the existing system continues to deteriorate, resulting in lost commercial opportunities, reduced safety, increased congestion, and exponentially higher transportation costs.” You could say the same things about Michigan and most other states!

They looked at various funding scenarios and concluded that to get the transportation system to what they are calling a “B” grade, each household would need to pay an additional $402 per year. But wait a minute – each household would also save $2,440 per year in household improvement benefits. The more you pay up front, the less you pay in vehicle maintenance, time spent in traffic, or increased cost of goods getting to market late.

How many times can I say this – the longer we wait to improve our transportation system, the longer it will take to show significant improvement and the more expensive it will be. I guess I need to say it some more.