Federal Public Transportation Program:
An Overview

William J. Mallett
Specialist in Transportation Policy
September 6, 2012
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R42706
CRS Report for Congress
Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress

Federal Public Transportation Program: An Overview

Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................................... 1
What Is Public Transportation?........................................................................................................ 1
Funding the Federal Transportation Program .................................................................................. 2
How Are Federal Dollars Spent? ..................................................................................................... 3
Program Structure............................................................................................................................ 3
Urbanized Area Formula Program (49 USC §5307) ................................................................. 4
State of Good Repair Grant Program (49 USC §5337) ............................................................. 4
New Starts Program (49 USC §5309) ....................................................................................... 5
Rural Area Formula Program (49 USC §5311) ......................................................................... 6
Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Program (49 USC §5339)....................................................... 6
Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program (49 USC
§5310)..................................................................................................................................... 6
Public Transportation Safety Program (49 USC §5329) ........................................................... 6

Figures
Figure 1. Federal Public Transportation Program Funding ............................................................. 2
Figure 2. Federal Public Transportation Program Funding Shares.................................................. 5

Tables
Table 1. Sources of Funding for Operating and Capital Expenditures in Public
Transportation Provision, 2010..................................................................................................... 4

Appendixes
Appendix. Public Transportation Funding Authorized by MAP-21 (Thousands of Dollars) .......... 8

Contacts
Author Contact Information............................................................................................................. 9

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Federal Public Transportation Program: An Overview

Introduction
Federal assistance to public transportation is provided primarily through the public transportation
program administered by the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration
(FTA). The federal public transportation program is authorized through FY2014 as part of the
Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21; P.L. 112-141). Signed into law in
July 2012, MAP-21 made significant modifications to the public transportation program, effective
October 1, 2012. This report provides an introduction to the program as modified by MAP-21.
Major federal involvement in public transportation dates to the Urban Mass Transportation Act of
1964 (P.L. 88-365). Prior to the mid-1960s there was very little public funding of public
transportation. With much lower ridership than existed at the end of World War II and mounting
debts, however, many private transit companies were reorganized as public entities. Federal
funding was initially used to recapitalize transit systems. Today, the focus of the federal program
is still on the capital side, but the program has evolved to support operational expenses in some
circumstances, as well as safety oversight, planning, and research.
What Is Public Transportation?
Public transportation (also known as public transit, mass transit, and mass transportation) is
defined in federal law (49 USC §5302) as
regular, continuing shared-ride surface transportation services that are open to the general
public or open to a segment of the general public defined by age, disability, or low income;
and … does not include—(i) intercity passenger rail transportation …; (ii) intercity bus
service; (iii) charter bus service; (iv) school bus service; (v) sightseeing service; (vi) courtesy
shuttle service for patrons of one or more specific establishments; or (vii) intra-terminal or
intra-facility shuttle services.
The main forms of public transportation are bus, heavy rail (subway and elevated), commuter rail,
light rail, paratransit (also known as demand response), and ferryboat. About 51% of public
transportation trips are made by bus, 35% by heavy rail, 5% by commuter rail, and 4% by light
rail. Paratransit accounts for about 2% of all public transportation trips, and ferries less than 1%.1
Since the end of the Second World War providers of public transportation have struggled to
maintain ridership due to a number of interrelated factors, particularly rising incomes, growing
automobile availability and use, and residential and employment decentralization. Despite the
long-term trend, ridership has risen over the past two decades from a low in 1995 of 7.8 billion
trips to 10.2 billion trips in 2010.
Public transportation accounts for about 2% of all daily trips and about 5% of commute trips.2
Ridership is heavily concentrated in a few large cities and their accompanying suburbs. About
75% of all public transportation trips are made in 10 large urbanized areas: New York, Los

1 American Public Transportation Association, Public Transportation Fact Book 2012: Appendix A (Washington, DC,
2012), tables 5 and 28, http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Pages/transitstats.aspx.
2 U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Summary of Travel Trends: 2009 National
Household Travel Survey
(Washington, DC, 20011), tables 9 and 25, http://nhts.ornl.gov/2009/pub/stt.pdf.
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Federal Public Transportation Program: An Overview

Angeles, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Miami, and Atlanta.
The New York City urbanized area alone, an area that includes parts of New Jersey and
Connecticut, accounts for about four of every 10 public transportation trips nationally.3
Funding the Federal Transportation Program
MAP-21 authorizes $10.6 billion for the federal public transportation program in FY2013 and
$10.7 billion in FY2014. Excluding funding provided in the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA; P.L. 111-5), public transportation program funding has been between
$10 billion and $11 billion since 2009 (Figure 1). ARRA provided an extra $8.4 billion in
FY2009. Typically about 80% of federal public transportation program funding comes from the
mass transit account of the highway trust fund and 20% comes from the general fund of the U.S.
Treasury. ARRA funding for public transportation came exclusively from the general fund.
Figure 1. Federal Public Transportation Program Funding
12.0
Federal Public Transportation Program
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
10.0
8.0
llars
o
f D

6.0
s o
n

illio
B

4.0
2.0
0.0
FY2005
FY2006
FY2007
FY2008
FY2009
FY2010
FY2011
FY2012
FY2013
FY2014

Source: Senate Appropriations Reports; Federal Transit Administration, MAP-21 Fact Sheet: Funding Summary,
http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Funding_Summary_Fact_Sheet.pdf.
Notes: FY2005 through FY2012 is appropriated funding. FY2013 through FY2014 is authorized funding.

3 CRS calculation based on U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration,
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, State Transportation Statistics 2011 (Washington, DC, 2012), table 4-3,
http://www.bts.gov/publications/state_transportation_statistics/state_transportation_statistics_2011/index.html.
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Federal Public Transportation Program: An Overview

In addition to the federal public transportation program, federal funding is also available from
several surface transportation programs that allow highway money to be spent on public
transportation projects, and from non-transportation programs in areas such as health, education,
and veterans affairs. Between FY1992 and FY2010, about $1 billion a year was transferred (or
“flexed”) from highway programs to public transportation.4 The Government Accountability
Office (GAO) has identified 73 federal non-transportation programs in which transportation is an
eligible expense.5 Although GAO could not estimate the transportation spending in all of these
programs, in 21 programs for which data were available transportation funding amounted to $2.3
billion in FY2010.6
How Are Federal Dollars Spent?
The costs of providing public transportation service fall into two main categories, operating
expenses and capital expenses. Operating expenses include vehicle operation and maintenance,
maintenance of stations and other facilities, general administration, and purchase of transportation
from private operators. Capital expenses are related to the purchase of equipment, such as buses,
rail lines, and rail stations. In general, federal public transportation programs allow an 80%
maximum matching share for capital projects and a 50% maximum share for operating expenses.
Operating costs account for about two-thirds of all costs for public transportation and capital
expenditures for about one-third. Fares and other operating revenues cover only one-quarter of
the total cost, with the remainder provided by federal, state, and local governments. The federal
government supports less than 10% of operating expenditures, but more than 40% of capital
expenditures (Table 1).
Program Structure
There are six major programs administered by FTA: (1) Urbanized Area Formula; (2) State of
Good Repair (SGR); (3) New Starts; (4) Rural Area Formula; (5) Bus and Bus Facilities Formula;
and (6) Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities. These are discussed in
more detail below. Funding for all of these programs, except New Starts, comes from the mass
transit account of the highway trust fund. New Starts funding comes from the general fund. There
are also a number of other much smaller programs (see the Appendix for a full listing). Because
MAP-21 provides significant new authority for FTA in safety, the Public Transportation Safety
Program is also discussed in more detail below.

4 American Public Transportation Association, APTA Primer on Transit Funding (Washington, DC, July 2012), p. 51,
http://www.apta.com/gap/policyresearch/Documents/Primer_SAFETEA_LU_Funding.pdf.
5 U.S. Government Accountability Office, Transportation-Disadvantaged Populations: Federal Coordination Efforts
Could Be Further Strengthened
, GAO-12-647, Washington, DC, 2012, http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/591707.pdf.
6 Ibid., pp 8-10.
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Federal Public Transportation Program: An Overview

Table 1. Sources of Funding for Operating and Capital Expenditures
in Public Transportation Provision, 2010
Operating
Capital
Total

Millions
Millions
Millions
Percent
of Dollars
Percent
of Dollars
Percent
of Dollars
Fares and Other Income
37.5
$14,675
0.0
$0
25.8
$14,675
Local
Government
28.1
$11,007 44.6
$7,952 33.3
$18,958
State
Government
25.0 $9,761
14.2 $2,537
21.6 $12,298
Federal
Government
9.4 $3,675
41.2 $7,336
19.3 $11,011
Total
100.0
$39,117 100.0
$17,824 100.0
$56,942
Source: American Public Transportation Association, 2012 Public Transportation Fact Book: Appendix A,
Washington, DC, 2012, Tables 58 and 63, http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Pages/transitstats.aspx.
Note: Local government outlays include funds from local taxes, tol transfers, and bond proceeds.
By far the largest program is the Urbanized Area Formula Program, accounting for 42% of the
funding authorized (Figure 2). About 5% ($519 million in FY2013 and $526 million in FY2014)
of the public transportation program funding is authorized for the Growing States and High
Density States Formula. This is not a program per se, but provides additional money to some
places and is distributed through the Urbanized and Rural Area Formula Programs. The Growing
States apportionment is based on forecasted state population growth, and the High Density
apportionment is to states with a population density greater than 370 persons per square mile.
Urbanized Area Formula Program (49 USC §5307)
The Urbanized Area Formula Grants Program provides funding for public transportation in
urbanized areas, places designated by the Census Bureau to have a population of 50,000 or more.
Funding is authorized at $4.398 billion in FY2013 and $4.459 billion in FY2014. Funding can be
spent on capital, planning, job access and reverse commute projects, and, in some circumstances,
operating expenses. For urbanized areas under 200,000 the distribution of funds is based on
population, population density, and the number of low-income individuals. In addition to these
factors, in urbanized areas over 200,000 the formula is also based on bus revenue vehicle miles,
bus passenger miles, fixed guideway revenue miles, and fixed guideway route miles.
State of Good Repair Grant Program (49 USC §5337)
The State of Good Repair (SGR) Program created by MAP-21 replaces the Fixed Guideway
Modernization Program. The SGR Program provides funding primarily for repairing and
upgrading rail transit systems, but also other fixed-guideway systems (such as passenger ferries
and bus rapid transit) and bus systems that use high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. Funding for
the SGR Program is $2.136 billion in FY2013 and $2.166 billion in FY2014, a good deal more
than the $1.667 billion allotted to the Fixed Guideway Modernization Program in FY2012.
The new State of Good Repair program has two components:
• The High Intensity Fixed Guideway SGR Program distributes 97.15% of the
funding for maintaining fixed guideway transit systems in a state of good repair.
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Federal Public Transportation Program: An Overview

The new formula for distributing these funds uses fixed guideway vehicle miles
and route miles for facilities that have been operating for at least seven years.
• The High Intensity Motorbus SGR program distributes the remaining 2.85% of
the funds for bus service provided on a high occupancy vehicle (HOV) facility.
Funding is distributed by a formula that uses high-intensity bus vehicle miles and
route miles for revenue services that have been operating for at least seven years.
Figure 2. Federal Public Transportation Program Funding Shares
FY2013-FY2014
State of Good
Repair
20%
Urbanized Area
Formula
42%
Rural Area Formula
6%
Growing States and
High Density States
Formula
5%
Bus and Bus
Facilities Formula
4%
Elderly and Disabled
2%
Other Trust Funded
Other General
1%
Funded
New Starts
2%
18%

Source: Federal Transit Administration, MAP-21 Fact Sheet: Funding Summary, http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/
FTA_Funding_Summary_Fact_Sheet.pdf.
New Starts Program (49 USC §5309)
The New Starts Program provides funding to support construction of new rail, bus rapid transit,
and ferry systems and to expand existing systems. Funding comes from the general fund and is
authorized at $1.907 billion for both FY2013 and FY2014, a slight reduction from the $1.955
authorized in FY2012. Most New Starts funding is available on a competitive basis in which
project sponsors undertake a multi-step process to become eligible for funding. MAP-21 made
several changes to New Starts to speed up this process, including reducing the number of major
steps from four to three and eliminating the New Starts alternatives analysis that was separate
from the alternatives analysis required by National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
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Federal Public Transportation Program: An Overview

Rural Area Formula Program (49 USC §5311)
The Rural Area Formula Program provides funding to states and Indian tribes for public
transportation outside of urbanized areas. Capital, operating, and planning are all eligible
expenses. Funding is $600 million in FY2013 and $608 million in FY2014. The formula used to
apportion Rural Area program funds, traditionally based on rural land area and population, now
incorporates vehicle revenue miles and low-income individuals. Funds from the program are set
aside for the Rural Transit Assistance Program, the Public Transportation on Indian Reservations
Program, and the Appalachian Development Public Transportation Assistance Program.
Bus and Bus Facilities Formula Program (49 USC §5339)
The Bus and Bus Facilities Program provides funding for capital expenses to purchase and
rehabilitate buses and to construct bus-related facilities, such as maintenance depots. Funding for
the program is authorized at $422 million in FY2013 and $428 million in FY2014. Formerly a
heavily earmarked discretionary program, funding is now distributed by formula. After each state
and territory receive a minimum allocation ($1.25 million to states and $0.5 million to territories),
the remaining funds are distributed according to population and service levels.
Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities
Program (49 USC §5310)

The Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program provides funding to
support specialized public transportation for these population groups.7 This program is authorized
at $255 million in FY2013 and $258 million in FY2014. Under the law, 60% of the funds are
apportioned to large urbanized areas, 20% to small urbanized areas, and 20% to rural areas.
Within these categories, funds are distributed to specific areas based on the relative size of their
elderly and disabled population. The program requires that projects come from a locally
developed, coordinated human services transportation plan.
Public Transportation Safety Program (49 USC §5329)
Prior to MAP-21, FTA had a limited role in public transportation safety.8 Under MAP-21, FTA is
required to develop a national public transportation safety plan, with safety performance criteria
for all modes of public transportation and minimum performance standards for public
transportation vehicles (except commuter rail vehicles, which are regulated by the Federal
Railroad Administration, or FRA). FTA is also required to establish a certification training
program for federal, state, and local employees who conduct safety audits or are responsible for
safety oversight. Recipients of urbanized and rural formula funds may use up to 0.5% of their
apportionment, with an 80% federal share, to pay for the training program. Each public
transportation agency and state is required to establish a comprehensive safety plan. Additionally,
each state with a rail system not regulated by FRA must have a state safety oversight (SSO)

7 This program combines the Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities Program and the New Freedom
Program that existed under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
(SAFETEA; P.L. 109-59).
8 See CRS Report R40688, The Federal Role in Rail Transit Safety, by David Randall Peterman and William J. Mallett.
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Federal Public Transportation Program: An Overview

program. Formula funding for the SSO program is set aside from the Urbanized Area Formula
Program and is provided with an 80% maximum federal share. FTA has authority to inspect and
audit the equipment and operations of transit agencies and may issue directives, require more
frequent agency oversight, and require that federal funding be spent to correct safety deficiencies.
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Federal Public Transportation Program: An Overview

Appendix. Public Transportation Funding
Authorized by MAP-21 (Thousands of Dollars)

Program FY2013
FY2014
Total 10,578,000
10,695,000
Trust Funded Programs 8,478,000
8,595,000
Urbanized Area Formula Program
4,397,950
4,458,650
Passenger Ferry Boat Program (discretionary)
30,000
30,000
Operational Support of State Safety Oversight
21,990
22,293
State of Good Repair
2,136,300
2,165,900
High Intensity Fixed Guideway
2,075,415
2,104,172
High Intensity Motorbus
60,885
61,728
Rural Area Formula Program
599,500
607,800
Public Transportation on Indian Reservations
30,000
30,000
Appalachian Development Public Transportation
20,000
20,000
Rural Transportation Assistance Program (RTAP)
11,990
12,156
Projects of National Scope
1,799
1,823
Growing States and High Density States Formula
518,700
525,900
Bus and Bus Facilities Formula
422,000 427,800
Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities
254,800 258,300
Planning
126,900 128,800
Pilot Program for Transit Oriented Development
10,000
10,000
National Transit Institute
5,000
5,000
National Transit Database
3,850
3,850
Bus Testing Facility
3,000
3,000



General Funded Programs 2,100,000
2,100,000
New Starts
1,907,000
1,907,000
FTA Administration
104,000
104,000
Research, Development, Demonstration, Deployment
70,000
70,000
Low and no emissions buses
45,500
45,500
Low/no emissions bus facilities and equipment
7,000
7,000
Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP)
7,000
7,000
Technical Assistance and Standards Development
7,000
7,000
Human Resources and Training
5,000
5,000
Emergency Relief Program
such sums as are necessary
Source: Federal Transit Administration, MAP-21 Fact Sheet: Funding Summary, http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/
FTA_Funding_Summary_Fact_Sheet.pdf.
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Federal Public Transportation Program: An Overview


Author Contact Information

William J. Mallett

Specialist in Transportation Policy
wmallett@crs.loc.gov, 7-2216

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