Federal Transportation Stimulus Dollar Update

Millions for Bathrooms and Bicycles
and Escalators (Oh My!)

At its July 15th meeting, the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB) approved a grant application that included $10 million in federal stimulus funds to purchase 1,600 bicycles for 160 “bike stations” in the District of Columbia, Alexandria, Arlington, Bethesda and Silver Spring.

It also agreed to a District of Columbia request to include Union Station escalator and waiting room improvements in the region’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and fiscally Constrained Long Range Plan (CLRP) to enhance the District’s grant request for federal stimulus funds from the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program.

Specifically, the District is requesting $8 million in High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Funds to replace parking garage escalators and $6 million to upgrade the existing Amtrak waiting room, including bathrooms, “so that men’s and women’s facilities exist on both sides of the waiting room.”

The fact that the District doesn’t own Union Station and unfunded projects don’t qualify for CLRP inclusion did not deter TPB approval.

The $10 million bicycle request is part of a grant expected to be filed in early September for $250-$400 million from the federal stimulus Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program for a regional priority bus system.

At the July 15th meeting, the Alliance spoke in support of a regional priority bus system, but said if local governments believe a $10 million bicycle investment is important to “economic recovery”, they should use local funds and explain the “economic benefits” to local taxpayers.

While federal approval of these requests is far from guaranteed, 

Proposals to Use Scarce Transportation Dollars for Trivial Purposes Fuel Voter Skepticism at a Time When Voter Support for New Revenue for Well-Documented Needs Is More Important Than Ever.