Infrastructure Bill Would Make Amtrak Policy Changes

The text of the proposed nearly $1 trillion bi-partisan infrastructure bill was revealed this week in the U.S. Senate.

As reported earlier by various sources, the bill would provide $66 billion to Amtrak with most of that money being used to address maintenance backlogs and upgrade the Northeast Corridor.

However, the text also showed the legislation would make changes to Amtrak’s legal mission.

Those include making the goal of Amtrak to “meet the intercity passenger rail needs of the United States” rather than achieving “a performance level sufficient to justify expending public money.”

There is also language that places Amtrak service to rural areas as well as urban areas.

The funding for Amtrak in the bill would allocate $1.5 billion per year for the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grants program with a 50 percent match required.

Also included in the bill is $15 million for the U.S. Department of Transportation to analyze the restoration of long-distance trains that have been terminated by Amtrak; money to fund the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program ($1 billion per year), and the Restoration and Enhancement Program ($50 million per year); and $500 million per year for rail grade crossing separation projects.

The Amtrak funding is part of an overall $102 billion package for commuter rail and other high-performance rail services.

Public transit would receive $107 billion for public transit. Some of that funding can be used for multimodal investments that include transit and passenger rail.

The legislation also contains the Senate’s version of a new surface transportation reauthorization  bill that authorizes funding for railroads, water infrastructure, public transit, highway, bridges and roads.

Senate Begins Debating Infrastructure Bill

The Senate this week voted to begin debate on a $550 billion bi-partisan infrastructure bill that includes $39 billion for public transit and $66 billion for passenger and freight rail.

The bill would provide $550 billion over five years for new federal investment in infrastructure, Biden administration officials said.

The bill would authorize $110 billion for roads, bridges and other major projects.

The public transit funds are focused on modernizing  transit and improving accessibility for the elderly and those with disabilities.

The rail funding would provide $22 billion to Amtrak. That would be broken down to $24 billion in federal-state partnership grants for Northeast Corridor modernization; $12 billion for partnership grants for intercity rail service, including high speed rail; $5 billion for rail improvement and safety grants; and $3 billion for grade crossing safety improvements.

Port infrastructure would receive $17 billion while airports would receive $25 billion.

The White House fact sheet said the money for the bill is expected to come through a combination of redirecting unspent emergency relief funds, targeted corporate user fees, strengthening tax enforcement when it comes to crypto currencies, and other bipartisan measures, in addition to the revenue generated from higher economic growth as a result of the investments.

Moving to debate does not guarantee passage of the bill or even that it will receive support from Republican senators even if several of them were part of the talks that led to the legislation.

The complete text of the bill has yet to be finished.

If the bill is approved by the Senate, it would go to the House where its fate is uncertain.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has pledged to held the bill until her chamber until Congress approves a $3.5 trillion budget plan being pushed by Democrats that includes spending on programs devoted to climate change, health care, education and child care.

Some moderate House Democrats, though, are pushing for an immediate vote on the infrastructure package once it comes over from the Senate.

GOP Senators Release Own Infrastructure Plan

A number of Republican members of the U.S. Senate have unveiled their own five-year $568 billion infrastructure plan.

It is a counter to a $2.3 trillion plan laid out by President Joseph Biden dubbed the American Jobs Plan.

The GOP senators said their proposal would be more narrow than the Biden plan and focus more on what they termed core physical infrastructure.

Funding allocations in the GOP plan include roads and bridges ($299 billion); public transit systems ($61 billion); freight and passenger rail ($20 billion); water and wastewater ($35 billion); ports and inland waterways ($17 billion); broadband ($65 billion); airports ($44 billion); and water storage ($14 billion); and safety ($13 billion).

The plan would impose user fees on electric vehicles and repurpose some unused federal spending allocated by the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Congress approved in March.

In a news release, the GOP senators said their plan is expected to be a framework for developing bipartisan bills that Congress could pass.

Railroads Get B on Infrastructure Report Card

U.S. railroads received a grade of B on the latest infrastructure report card released by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

ASCE cited the private investment that has been made in the nation’s rail system, which the group said is in good condition.

Between 1980 and 2020, U.S. freight railroads spent nearly $740 billion on capital expenditures and maintenance expenses related to locomotives, freight cars, tracks, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure and equipment.

In a news release the Association of American Railroads said the grade was the highest that railroads have received from ASCE.

ASCE said the nation’s infrastructure overall merited a grade of C-.

The infrastructure report card noted that remain stark differences in the infrastructure challenges faced by freight versus passengers railroads.

It pointed to a $45.2 billion state-of-good-repair backlog on the Northeast Corridor while also noting that most Amtrak trains use well-maintained freight railroad routes.

Saying that infrastructure-related issues are the largest source of delays on the Northeast Corridor, ASCE called for significant investment in passenger-rail infrastructure.

Biden Talks Infrastructure Plan With Senators

A recent meeting between President Joseph Biden and four U.S. Senators provided a preview of the challenges that lie ahead for efforts to approve an infrastructure plan this year.

The bi-partisan group of Senators agreed with Biden that improving infrastructure should be framed as a way to improve the competitiveness of the United States in the global economy, particularly in competition with China.

“If we don’t get moving, they’re [China] going to eat our lunch,” Biden told reporters during a post-meeting news conference.

Biden noted that China has made massive investments in its rail network, automobile manufacturing and renewable energy capabilities.

Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) agreed that the U.S. needs to revitalize its economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was very good, very good and one reason is that I’ve known the president forever, and we’ve worked together before,” Inhofe said.

At the same time, Inhofe said he would not support a plan that is a vehicle to reduce carbon emissions, something that Biden and many Democrats are sure to seek.

“A surface transportation reauthorization bill can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs to strengthen our economy, and move us to a cleaner, safer future,” said Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware) in a statement after the meeting.

Carper, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said he was optimistic about reaching a bi-partisan consensus on an infrastructure bill. He said the current surface transportation authorization law expires on Sept. 30 and Congress doesn’t have time to waste.

Infrstructure Needs Face $5T Gap, Group Warns

Infrastructure in the United States faces a $5 trillion gap between current spending and what is needed to reach a state of good repair, the American Society of Civil Engineers warned this week.

The group said in a report released this week that the future of the transit sector is “bleak,” with a current backlog of $176 billion in investments, considering vehicles, tracks, and equipment that are past their useful service lives.

ASCE said the backlog could reach $535 billion for transit and intercity passenger rail by 2039 as existing assets age.

The report does not address freight rail needs, but previous reports it issued said the freight rail system has generally fared better than other forms of transportation because of the private investment in right-of-way and other capital projects.

Infrastructure Funding Gets Shoved Aside

Hopes are dimming that the next legislation to come out of Congress to address the COVID-19 pandemic will include a boost in infrastructure spending.

The Rail Passengers Association reported on its website late last week that plans to include infrastructure spending have been shelved for now.

RPA said infrastructure spending was pushed aside amid partisan wrangling over what the next pandemic emergency aid bill will contain.

Infrastructure spending might still be included in a future COVID-19 bill, but RPA said it might be the fifth bill that Congress takes up later this year, perhaps mid summer.

Congress thus far has approved and President Trump has signed three pandemic related bills.

RPA commented that with the ranks of the newly unemployment rising to 16.8 million there is likely to be political pressure for programs that offer jobs to those out of work.

Many of the new unemployment claims have come from those affected by state orders that have shut down restaurants, entrainment venues and other businesses deemed nonessential in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

RPA noted that several members of the Senate have called for an additional $750 million to help transit agencies protect their workers COVID-19.

That funding would be used to acquire personal protective equipment.

Infrastructure Funding Might be in Next Legislation to Address COVID-19 Pandemic

Congress is eyeing a fourth bill to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and it might address infrastructure funding.

President Donald Trump has signaled that he would support a $2 trillion infrastructure package as part of that legislation.

Other congressional leaders have also identified areas they would like to see funded but some observers think that whatever bill makes it through the House and Senate will be limited to health care matters.

Congress most recently approved a stimulus bill providing $2.2 trillion in funding, which is several hundred billion dollars more than the federal budget for one fiscal year.

Lawmakers are hoping that the stimulus bill will benefit the economy by as much as an additional $4 trillion.

The $1.018 billion that the stimulus bill provided for Amtrak was intended in part to limit the funding states must pay for services they support.

In an unrelated development, the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners reported that several moves of private cars via Amtrak that had been planned in March were canceled by their owners as a result of the pandemic.

AAPRCO also posted its mid-term meeting from March 23 to late July.

DOT Seeks Opinions on Rural Transportation Program

Public opinion is being sought by the U.S. Department of Transportation to help share the agency’s Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success program.

In a news release, DOT said it wants to know how it can can better support the transportation infrastructure in rural areas.

The ROUTES Council will use the responses to guide the evaluation of rural projects and improve funding options,

The program seeks to assist public officials in rural areas better understand how to apply for and land DOT grants and to develop data-driven approaches to assess needs and benefits of rural transportation projects.

In its news release, DOT said rural transportation is particularly important for agriculture, mining and energy commodities.

Two-thirds of freight rail originates in rural areas and nearly half of all truck vehicle-miles-traveled occur on rural roads.

The program will be coordinated with the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration.

Trump Infrastructure Plan Already Flagging in Congress

President Trump has had his say and now Congress is responding to his infrastructure plan. The early returns do not look promising.

Last week, Senate Democrats put forth a $1-trillion infrastructure plan that would, among other things, allocate $180 billion over the next decade to expand and rehabilitate rail and bus systems.

That might sound like music to the ears of rail passenger and public transportation proponents, but the Democrats are the minority party in the Senate and face an uphill battle to take control of that chamber in the November elections.

Paul Ryan, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, has his own idea of how Congress should deal with the Trump infrastructure proposal.

He expects Congress to pass several piecemeal bills that will address infrastructure.

Committees dealing with aviation, water and energy are likely to begin drafting their own infrastructure proposals this spring with votes not likely before the summer.

Ryan’s comments are being interpreted by some political observers as a setback for the Trump plan.

The speaker also doused the idea of increasing the federal gasoline tax, a move that had been supported by Republican and Democratic members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The 18.4 cent a gallon tax goes into the Highway Trust Fund and was last increased in 1993. In recent years the revenue flowing from the tax has considerably eroded.

Ryan said raising the gas tax would undo the benefit of the tax cuts that he helped shepherd through Congress late last year.

The Trump administration infrastructure plan does not call for a gas tax increase, but some lawmakers say Trump suggested in a meeting at the White House last month raising the tax to 25 cents per gallon.

The Hill, a website that covers the federal government, reported recently that enthusiasm among Republicans for Trump’s infrastructure program has been lackluster.

Ryan suggested that infrastructure could be addressed in a bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, in a must pass omnibus budget bill that has a March 23 deadline, and in the Water Resources Development Act, which Congress must renew every two years.

The omnibus budget bill would represent what Ryan termed a “down payment” on an infrastructure plan.

Bill Shuster, the Pennsylvania Republican who heads the House Transportation Committee, continues to push for a larger infrastructure bill and has spoken about working with Democrats on the committee to win approval of a package to fund roads, bridges, transit systems, airports and other public works.

Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who is chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, acknowledged that opposition to an increase in the gasoline tax presents a challenge to those who want an infrastructure plan.

“Well, it probably means that a big robust infrastructure plan is going to be hard to do if there’s not the money to do it. But I think there are things we can do in the context of an infrastructure bill with some amount of funding,” Thune said.