July 16, 2003

Hon. Bill Pascrell (individual letters sent to all members of NJ delegation to Congress)

U.S. House of Representatives
Robert Roe Federal Building
200 Federal Plaza, Suite 500
Paterson, NJ 07505

Re: Disastrous 2004 House Transportation Appropriations Bill

Dear Representative Pascrell:

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Treasury recently marked up an appropriations bill that eliminates or substantially reduces funding for federal surface transportation programs that are critical to New Jersey. We strongly urge you to oppose this bill and win amendments to it. Please let us know what you are doing in this regard.

The bill:

• Would reduce mass transit program funding and federal support for specific projects. As you know, it is already a tremendous challenge for New Jersey to maintain its support for mass transit operations, capital programs and needed system expansion projects. Our commuters, our economy and our environment simply cannot sustain a reduction in federal mass transit funding at this time. While it is not yet clear to us what mass transit projects the appropriation bill targets, at the very least this appropriation will set a bad precedent and likely reduce the federal share of funding for pending projects critical to our transit system and future economic growth. Funding for Federal Transit Administration “New Starts” projects would be cut by at least $150 million. Projects that do not yet have FTA “full funding grant agreements” such as an additional NJ Transit rail tunnel to Manhattan, will likely not receive any funding.

• Would force Amtrak to shut down. The bill reduces current Amtrak funding from $1.04 billion to $580 million. It is a matter of record that a cut of this magnitude will force Amtrak to cease operations. The action is particularly surprising since a majority (219 Members) of the House of the Representatives has written to the Appropriations Committee urging funding of $1.8 billion, the level specified by Amtrak President David Gunn as the minimum needed to implement the railroad’s five-year improvement program. As you know, federal funding for the Northeast Corridor is critical to New Jersey. Big rail operating and capital costs will be shifted to New Jersey’s transportation budget in the event of Amtrak’s demise, while a major means of East Coast inter-city travel will be lost to our citizens.

• Eliminates the popular “transportation enhancements” program. Since 1991, the enhancements program has provided a new source of funds for pedestrian, bicycling, historic preservation and community development. New Jersey has made tremendous use of the program. In fact, the State DOT receives far more project applications for these funds during each funding cycle than it can meet. New Jersey communities want and need this program. It is unconscionable and unfair that programs like this which have been established through extensive debate, consultation and compromise by huge numbers of transportation stakeholders, state and local governments and their representatives in Congress through two major pieces of transportation legislation (the ISTEA of 1991 and 1998’s TEA-21) are being assaulted in the annual appropriations process.

• Wipes out small, innovative transportation programs. It would cut in half the Job Access/Reverse Commute program, which supports transportation providers helping workers and job-seekers in lower income communities reach job sites that are not otherwise accessible to them. It would also kill the Transportation Community and System Preservation Program, which underwrites work to bring transportation and economic development planning into closer alignment.

We hope that Congress as a whole takes a more sensible approach than the transportation subcommittee has done. Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

Sandy Batty

Executive Director