This is an important issue because local transit agencies are currently prohibited from creating local hiring programs when using federal funds for projects. The rationale has been that all Americans should have access to jobs created with national funding, but the policy fails to take into account that most of [continue reading]
Some good news: it appears that a temporary solution has emerged to prevent Metro from losing $3.6 billion in federal funds due to an ongoing dispute over pension reform between the state of California and the U.S. Department of Labor. The solution involves a state bill exempting transit agencies from [continue reading]
Metro project acceleration plan The Metro Board of Directors this month will consider a project acceleration plan that, on average, would lop an average of 10 years off the time it takes to build second and third decade Measure R transit and road projects. It’s a big deal for many [continue reading]
Here’s a new graphic from Metro showing the growing support for the bond part of the America Fast Forward program that Congress will hopefully adopt this year. And here’s the update from Metro’s government relations squad: Last week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel [continue reading]
MayoralLetterAFFBonds4-30-13 The America Fast Forward initiative got a nice boost last week when the U.S. Conference of Mayors issued a letter (above) to Congress supporting Metro’s attempt to create a new class of bonds that could be used to accelerate transportation projects across the country, including Metro’s Measure R highway [continue reading]
Some very welcome news via the proposed budget released today by President Barack Obama: the budget includes $130 million to help fund two of Metro’s big rail projects: the Purple Line Extension and the Regional Connector. The budget allocates $65 million to both projects. This is the first time that [continue reading]
UPDATE: The item will be considered at April’s meeting of the Metro Board of Directors. In 2010, the Metro Board of Directors approved the 30/10 plan, the idea being to build 30 years worth of Measure R projects in the next decade. Although it hasn’t yet worked out, that policy [continue reading]
For masochistic readers following the tortuous path of transportation funding in Congress, here are a dynamic duo of legislative updates from Metro’s government relations staff. The first is good news: the House of Representatives restored transportation funding in the budget for the second half of this fiscal year. The second [continue reading]
Further proof that there’s always something getting in the way of transportation funding in the nation’s capital. From Metro’s government relations starting nine: Metro along with the Orange County Transportation Authority, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and Sacramento Regional Transit, sent a letter to Acting United States Secretary of Labor Seth [continue reading]
Hey — at least this post isn’t about the sequester! From Metro’s government relations squad: Today [Monday], the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) released the text of legislation (H.R. 933) that would serve to fund the U.S. Government through the end of Federal Fiscal [continue reading]
