Special Briefing: The Future of Mass Transportation as US Pandemic Aid Nears an End

The panel discusses the outlook for mass transportation across the US amid waning federal pandemic emergency aid and lagging ridership as metropolitan area commuters continue to work from home. This episode includes a remembrance of our great friend and colleague, Richard Ravitch, the former New York State lieutenant governor, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman, Volcker Alliance director, and tireless advocate for fiscally sustainable state and local budgeting, who passed away on June 25.
Our panel of experts includes Janno Lieber, chair and chief executive officer, Metropolitan Transportation Authority; former US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx; Kurt Forsgren, managing director and sector lead for transportation in US Public Finance at S&P Global; Frank Jimenez, senior fiscal policy analyst, California Legislative Analyst's Office; and Leslie Richards, general manager and chief executive officer, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
Notable Quotes:
“I made the case that it was insane for New York [to not receive funding to avert a fiscal cliff], when 85% of our commuters use mass transit. It was an intense equity issue.” - Janno Lieber
“What is clear in the post-COVID era is that the critical role that transit plays is not going to change. We have to rethink how we make decisions. We know that cities, regions and transit are intrinsically related – we know that our futures are tied together; that the stronger a transit system is, the stronger the region it operates in is as well.” - Leslie Richards
“Ultimately in the final budget package, the legislature provided $5.1 billion to support transit agencies across the state over a four-year period. This funding is on top of the state’s baseline funding which supports transit agencies and is funded by fuel taxes and vehicle fees.” - Frank Jimenez
“Whether that is in the form of sales taxes, or as New York has done with congestion pricing, I think we’re going to have to look at new ways to generate income from local and state sources to support our transit systems.” - Anthony Foxx
“Even for transit agencies where we have sales tax or other forms of tax that make up the bulk of revenues, we felt like the ridership loss is likely to impact their operating funds and have ripple effects across their enterprise.” - Kurt Forsgren
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Special Briefing is published by the Volcker Alliance, as part of its Public Finance initiatives, and Penn IUR. The views expressed on this podcast are those of the panelists and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Volcker Alliance or Penn IUR.