DOT Secretary Gives Keynote at APTA

Prepared Remarks for Secy. Ray LaHood

U.S. Department of Transportation
American Public Transportation Assn.
Orlando, FL-Oct. 5, 2009

I am delighted to be here today with America’s public transportation leaders.Let me begin with a simple, straightforward message: The Obama Administration understands that reliable, modern public transportation facilities are absolutely critical to the success of every American city, every metropolitan region, and our rural communities.

That’s our starting point, and it means we’re committing to investing in the rail, bus, ferry, vanpool, and other public transportation services that link people to jobs; provide mobility to older Americans and people with disabilities; guarantee access to vital services like health care; and spur local economic development.

In my first 9 months at DOT, I have personally visited 30 states and 54 cities and I’ve seen the enormous impact that public transportation has on the quality and vitality of life in cities and communities of all sizes. I’ve toured the new extension to the Gold Line in Los Angeles, which is bringing light rail to low-income, transit-dependent residents of East L.A. for the very first time.

I stood on the site of the Miami Intermodal Center, a massive ground transportation hub that will connect Miami International Airport with commuter rail, transit and intercity buses, and airport shuttles.Last month, I traveled to Chicago, Denver, and Dubuque, where city and transportation leaders are working with community groups to create energy-efficient, transit-oriented neighborhoods.

And two weeks ago, I was in the transit capital of the nation, New York, where officials are engaged in the challenging but essential task of modernizing and expanding the oldest heavy-rail systems in the country.In all of these places, and many more, your agencies are helping state and local leaders define what livable communities really are, what they look like, and how they should perform in the twenty-first century.

Let me assure you, we want you to succeed.We’re studying your successes, learning from your challenges, and figuring out how we can best help you serve your communities safely, effectively, and efficiently.Now I know that many serious challenges lie ahead.I know the state and local budget cuts have really stretched you to the limit. But I’m confident the situation will improve and our economy will revive.

In the meantime, I think the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has helped to prevent a much deeper crisis from occurring. Working closely with FTA, we’ve awarded the transit industry more than 680 grants worth 7.2 billion dollars, with hundreds of millions of dollars in recovery funds still in the pipeline.

These funds have provided operating assistance for many of you at a critical time. They’ve helped to keep capital transit programs on track around the country, despite the downturn. And they’ve helped to offset layoffs that so many transit employees have faced in these tough economic times.

You’ve all done a great job meeting our deadlines for obligating those funds – and I hope you’ll stay on track to keep the money moving over the next several months. But the Recovery Act is about more than keeping transit afloat during tough times. It’s also about investing in the future. Recently we selected 43 transit agencies to receive 100 million dollars in recovery funds to help them pursue cutting-edge environmental technologies to help reduce global warming, lessen America’s dependence on oil, and create green jobs.

When I visited MARTA officials in Atlanta, I learned they’re using these funds to build bus canopies with solar-paneled roofs. They’ll reduce fuel consumption and also generate extra power that can be sold back to the local utility. I hope the entire transit industry will watch these projects closely, and learn from them. At the federal level, we’re also getting more creative. For example, we’ve teamed up with HUD and EPA to create the federal government’s first sustainability partnership.

Working together, we’ll coordinate and direct federal investments in transportation, housing, improved air quality, and water infrastructure across the country.This will help to ensure that we build more transit near affordable housing, combat sprawl, and help communities become both more livable and sustainable.In addition, through the Recovery Act, we’re making an historic 1.5 billion dollar investment in intermodal transportation projects of regional and national significance.Hundreds of innovative proposals – many of them from you in this room -- are under review right now.

Taken together, these efforts will, over time, produce a profound, strategic shift in our commuting and travel patterns – with far greater emphasis on efficient, sustainable mobility than this country has seen in more than half a century.How will we pay for all of this?Thanks to President Obama and Congress, we’re off to a good start, with an 8 billion-dollar down-payment for new inter-city and high-speed rail service in key corridors around the country.

We’re hopeful Congress will continue to appropriate significant funds for this long-term investment in the future of inter-city mobility.Meanwhile, the House and Senate continue to work on appropriations bills for DOT in fiscal 2010.And the President and I are determined to work with Congress to pass a transformational surface transportation bill that adequately funds our priorities.This won’t happen as quickly as we might like.

But it will happen – and we will end up with a bill that streamlines federal transportation programs – including FTA’s New Starts program -- and identifies new sustainable funding sources.I’m grateful to Congresswoman Brown and Congressman Mica for their leadership on this important transportation issue, and I’m confident we’ll achieve a good outcome.I know many of you in urban and suburban transit districts believe you haven’t always gotten your fair share of federal transportation funds. We’re taking that into account as we work with transportation planning organizations to improve the services they provide.

And I think you’ll see that when we’re finished, urban and metropolitan regions will have more say, and greater flexibility, in how federal dollars are spent.And that’s going to lead to better outcomes for all of us. I think the future of public transportation looks very bright – but there is one major challenge we cannot overlook, and that’s safety. Safety remains our single highest priority at DOT. Recent transit accidents in Washington, D.C., California, Massachusetts, and elsewhere have made it abundantly clear that FTA should take a stronger hand in safety. That’s why I have asked Deputy Secretary Porcari to lead a group of experts to develop new options for reforming transit safety.

You can expect to hear more from us on this in the future. Separately, we’re taking action to clamp down on distracted drivers – including bus drivers and train operators and other transit personnel -- who endanger their passengers. On September 30th, President Obama issued an Executive Order banning federal workers from texting while driving on official business. In conjunction with that announcement, we held a very successful two-day summit on distracted driving. This is an important and historic step toward making our transit systems – and all our roads – safer to travel.

To do our part, DOT intends to propose rulemakings to make permanent restrictions on the use of cell phones and other electronic devices in rail operations; ban text messaging altogether, and restrict the use of cell phones by truck and interstate bus operators; and disqualify school bus drivers convicted of texting while driving, from maintaining their commercial driver’s licenses. We’ll work with Congress on appropriate legislation as well.
This is very serious business – and we should have a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who uses an electronic device while they’re behind the wheel. There’s no question we all face many challenges, but I’m very optimistic about the future of transportation in this country.
We’re making meaningful investments in programs and projects that are going to change the way we live, work, and travel – for the better.

I want to thank Bill Millar, Bev Scott, and all the members of APTA for working so hard during these tough times to deliver the public transportation services we all need and deserve. I also want to thank Peter Rogoff at FTA for his outstanding leadership. He hit the ground running when he arrived in June – and he hasn’t stopped since. To everyone here today, thanks for all your great work to make public transportation the best it can be in every city, town, and neighborhood in America. Thank you very much.