“If we massively subsidize roads made of concrete and asphalt for people who drive cars and trucks, there’s nothing wrong with a comparable subsidy for roads made of steel rails for people who ride trains.”

These are the concluding words of a op-ed by David R. Riemer, director of the Community Advocates Public Policy Institute at Community Advocates Inc. You know those roads? They’re heavily subsidized (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 3, 2010)

The following graphs were built from Riemer’s Excel spreadsheet and from Wisconsin Department of Transportation data: State Transportation Data

SOURCE

The source of Road funds – by percentage:

58.2% of Road funds come from the use of motorized vehicles: Fuel, Registration, Title, Fees.

41.4% of Road funds come from your Income, Property, and Sales taxes.

EXPENSE

How are Road funds spent?

92% of State transportation revenues are spent on roads.

Mass Transit receives 4.42 %

Railroads, Harbors, Airports receive 3.36%

The proposed Milwaukee to Madison Rail line would get 0.21% of State Transportation Funds..

In dollars:

For every $10 WisDOT spends on roads:

$9.20 goes to roads

44 cents goes to Mass Transit operations

34 cents goes to Rail, Harbors and Airport

2 cents would go to the operation of the Madison-Milwaukee high speed rail.

THE ROAD USER

We all use roads.

Car and truck drivers pay for roads with gasoline taxes and fees.

When a product is delivered the price includes the fuel and registration fees of the truck, and those fees are paid by you and me, the buyer.

And so everyone uses and pays for roads. While drivers pay per mile through gasoline taxes, their ride is subsidized by the rest of us.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR CHANGE

Consider other common services: water, sewer, gas, telephone, and electricity. For these we charge closer to cost because we have meters in each house to calculate real usage.

As Riemer points out: “For the most part … we don’t sock it to the taxpayers to subsidize the users of these equally essential services. Rather, the users of those services pay, more-or-less, for 100% of the cost.”

All transportation is subsidized. From the sidewalk to the airport, an effective government will provide the infrastructure that serves all citizens. An effective government will remove barriers to accessing jobs, schools, hospitals, recreation, and commerce.

To serve taxpayers who should not drive do not drive, cannot drive, or do not want to drive, we need transportation policy that brings the benefits of mobility to all citizens.

More here.

More here.

President Obama had made a few priorities absolutely clear: this country must reduce both greenhouse gases and dependency on foreign oil.

Gov. Jim Doyle’s WisDOT, in planning for a new Zoo Interchange, is taking a real slap at the president by totally ignoring those priorities. There will be no planning for any transit to be incorporated into the new design, nor will there be a freeway / transit alternatives analysis done, despite the city’s request.

It’s a road-only study — more greenhouse gases, more dependency on foreign oil. Guess the governor doesn’t like the president all that much.

And why is this plan roads only? Because of a timeline Gov. Jim Doyle set when he was running for re-election and worried that the Republicans would criticize him for not rebuilding the Zoo Interchange before embarking on the North-South I-94 project. There is no valid engineering, environmental or geopolitical argument against including transit in the Zoo Interchange project. The opposite is true. The region, state and country would be better off if transportation planning included transit. That a project this big doesn’t isn’t just a slap at the president and his priorities — it’s a slap at all of us.

Keeping this in his budget — to be introduced later this month — would be a political win for Gov. Jim Doyle no matter how it plays out. The Regional Transit Authority wants a 0.5% sales tax to fund transit in Kenosha, Milwaukee and eastern Racine counties, but not everyone likes that idea and it still must pass legislative muster.

If that happens, Doyle goes a long way — and essentially on the cheap — to proving that he doesn’t really hate Milwaukee. If the RTA deal falls apart, Doyle can point at southeastern Wisconsin politicos, sneer and say, “See, even with a $100 million bribe they can’t get it together.”

That’s good news. Still, highway building gets $30 billion and it will be pumped through the traditional formulas, which simply do not work very well.

Will the feds ease the onerous rules on capital transit funding to allow the money to get spent in a way that might actually stimulate?

The cost was estimated at $400 million when the 2007-09 budget was developed, according to the agency’s budget request.

“As with all other infrastructure projects, the estimated cost has increased significantly in the last two years due to high fuel and materials costs,” the department said. ”While the final cost will not be known until the final design and engineering are completed, the project cost is currently estimated at $500 – $600 million, including all design, engineering, capital infrastructure costs, and equipment costs.”

WisDOT is seeking $40 million in new bonding authority for the project, on top of the $82 million in authority it already has.

The good news, WisDOT said, is that there now is a federal funding program for intercity passenger rail service that could pay as much as 80% of project costs.

“Federal appropriation of funding and rule-making for the rail programs still need to occur,” the agency said in its 2009-11 budget request. ”The work done on the Madison – Milwaukee corridor so far and the bonding already authorized will place Wisconsin in a good position to receive a grant as soon as the process is established.”

There are good reasons to proceed with the project, WisDOT said.

Ridership on the Hiawatha route between Milwaukee and Chicago has been growing at record rates as people confront high gasoline costs, environmental issues and bad airline service, WisDOT said.

“The next crucial link for re-establishing an effective and efficient intercity passenger rail system in the state is the Madison – Milwaukee route,” the agency said. ”Linking the state’s two largest cities by passenger rail will provide a needed alternative to many daily commuters and other travelers between these two cities, points along the way, and between Madison and Chicago. It will also provide a significant mobility option for those who are limited in their transportation options now.”

Jim Rowen has the details here.

While it is true that the request does not include fare increases and does include an $11 million spending increase, it also includes a drop in property tax support and a cut number of hours buses are scheduled to be running.

Buses are proposed to be on the road for 1,322,692 hours in 2009, or or 1.3% fewer hours than are budgeted for this year. That may not sound like much, until you figure that 1.3% is the equivalent of 16,920 hours, which equates to 705 days, which equates to 1.9 years. The cuts being pondered are significant.

Property tax support would be $21.5 million, a decrease of $670,507, or 3%, under the budget request.

The County Board adopted a measure calling for a non-binding referendum on whether to establish a sales tax to support transit and parks. County Executive Scott Walker vetoed the resolution, and the Board has not yet held an override vote.

Here are the funding details for the transit request: The total transit and paratransit budget requested is $174.9 million, up $11.2 million, or 6.4%, from this year’s budget of $163.8 million. Requested transit operating expenses are up $7.5 million, or 5.6%, due to higher fuel prices. They are projected at $4 per gallon for 2009, while they were budgeted at $2.30 per gallon this year.

Despite the service cuts, bus ridership is projected to increase by 705,125 rides next year, up 1.7% from the number budgeted for this year. The cost per mile to operate buses is expected to rise from $7.51 to $7.98, a jump of 6.3%. Passenger revenue per mile, though, is projected to increase just a penny, from $1.04 to $1.05.

On the paratransit side, the number of trips taken is expected to increase to 1,158,820, up 82,079, or 7.6%, from this year. The cost per ride is expected to go up 51 cents a trip, or 2.37%.

Things are not looking up for transit riders in Milwaukee County.