Houston METRO Touted as Model for Transit Solutions
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 11:36 AM
The nation's top leader at the Federal Transit Administration mentioned Houston recently as a model that could offer a 21st-century solution to a transportation infrastructure that has hit a tipping point.
Jim Simpson, administrator at the FTA, said in a speech at the Transportation Operations Summit in Linthicum, Maryland, that we as a nation cannot effectively solve the nation's road congestion problems or bridge the funding gap for existing transit systems without trying innovative steps.
For example, congestion pricing, high-speed electronic tolling and public-private partnerships are three strategies to generate new funding sources, said Simpson. And that's where METRO comes in.
METRO is one of three locations that the FTA has selected for public-private partnership demonstrations. Denver and Oakland, Calif., are the other two.
"The idea is that the grantees contract with private partners to design, build, finance, operate and maintain transit facilities - from rail and bus stations to parking garages," said Simpson in his speech.
"These arrangements offer many potential advantages, by supplementing public funding with private equity and debt...transferring long-term financial risks to the private sector...and speeding up project construction and delivery, which in turn may reduce costs on some transit projects," he continued.
Click here to read Simpson's entire speech.
The Highway Trust Fund - the traditional source of funding for infrastructure - is expected to show a deficit of $3 billion by next year. The Department of Transportation estimates we need about $22 billion a year to improve the condition and performance of existing transit systems through 2024. 
Clearly, we need sources of new revenues - and the FTA is hoping its New Starts program, of which METRO is a part, will jump-start public-private partnerships on capital transit projects. Click here to read more on the Public-Private Partnership Pilot Program (Penta-P).
Last week at METRO, we announced our new private partner - Parsons Transportation Group - which will serve as our lead facility provider and is expected to complete $12 million of work on three light-rail lines by year's end.
We are hoping our new partner will help us meet our goal - and that of the New Starts pilot - of streamlining the work and spreading the risks of new construction.
The good news, said Simpson, is that the FTA's fiscal 2008 budget includes an all-time record of $9.5 billion for public transportation. That includes increases for almost every project the FTA funds.
That's great news for motorists who are grappling with gas nearing $4-a-gallon. Public transit - including METRO's five light-rail lines by 2012 - is looking more attractive every day.