SAN FRANCISCO
– As the governor prepares to unveil his proposed budget for the
2007-2008 fiscal year on Wednesday, the California Public Interest
Research Group (CALPIRG), the Transportation and Land Use Coalition
(TALC), and others are urging Governor Schwarzenegger to fully fund
public transit operations.
“The governor clearly wants to leave a legacy of improved infrastructure for California’s growing population, and we’re urging the governor to prioritize public transit. Without quality public transit, California
will only suffer from more traffic congestion, more pollution, and
diminished quality of life for residents,” said Emily Rusch, CALPIRG
Advocate.
California
already spends significantly more money on roads and highways than we
do on public transit infrastructure and operations. Less than 20% of
state transportation funding typically goes to public transit. To make
matters worse, a primary source of state funding for the Public
Transportation Account, the gas tax Spillover
revenue*, does not enjoy firewall protections afforded to other
transportation funding under Prop 1A; and, the estimated $625 million
in the Spillover Fund for the coming year is vulnerable to raids for
other projects and programs.
”Spillover dollars provide critically important funding to local
transit operators. In a time when working families have suffered
persistent fare hikes and service cuts, these flexible dollars are
needed to keep our transit systems running,” says Carli Paine,
Transportation Program Director at TALC.
Public
transit is dependent on the funds from the Spillover Fund now more than
ever. The last six years of rapidly increasing gas prices have resulted
in increased utilization of California’s
public transit systems. Higher gas prices have also resulted in
increased costs of fuel for public transit services. In addition, the
$20 billion that voters approved for transportation when they passed
Prop 1B in November will support new transportation infrastructure, but
the bond money cannot fund operations of
these new investments. Spillover revenue, which increase with the price
of gasoline, can and must be used to help cover new increases in
operation costs.
Since
2000, $1.7 billion has been raided from the Spillover Fund for other
budget needs. Last year the Governor proposed in his January budget to
reallocate all of the $668 million in the Spillover funds away from the
Public Transportation Account. After strong opposition from
environmental and public transit advocates, the legislature restored
$310 million for public transit.
A
PPIC poll from September 2006 found that 50% of Californians believe
mass transit options should be the top funding priority for
transportation, while 40% of Californians prefer roads and highways as
the top funding priority.
“Public transit is necessary for the mobility for California’s
growing population, and also popular with the public. The Governor
should make public transit an infrastructure priority in his second
term, and fully funding public transit this year would be a good first
step” concluded Rusch.
* The
spillover funding mechanism was created in the Transportation
Development Act of 1971, and was explicitly designed to provide needed
funds for the state’s Public Transportation Account, which is the only
statewide fund that can be used for public transit operation costs. The
amount of spillover revenue each year is determined by a formula that
is triggered when gas prices rise faster than inflation. Due to current
and predicted high gas prices, the Department of Finance and Board of
Equalization currently estimate the Spillover Fund at $625 million for
the 2007-2008 fiscal year.
