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National
ARRA Transportation Funds Bypassing Urban Projects
The 100 largest metropolitan regions house two-thirds of the country's population, generate three-quarters of its economic activity, and suffer the worst traffic jams -- which the newest Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) annual mobility study of 439 urban areas blames for the waste of 2.8 billion gallons of fuel and 4.2 billion of productive hours, at a total cost of $87.2 billion in 2007 -- but a New York Times analysis of how states will spend the $16.4 billion allocated so far out of their 70-percent share of the $26.6 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus money shows more than half of it going to shovel-ready projects in rural areas.
The remaining 30 percent of the $26.6 million, report Times writers Michael Cooper and Griff Palmer, was sent to metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), which did not face forefeiture of funds if not approved before a June 30 deadline. The MPOs will likely use the extra time to select and fund projects requiring more preparation in metro areas.
''If we're trying to recover the nation's economy, we should be focusing where the economy is,'' said Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program Senior Fellow Robert Puentes. ''But states take this peanut-butter approach, taking the dollars and spreading them around very thinly, rather than taking the dollars and concentrating them where the most complex transportation problems are.''
With the Times analysis showing over half of ARRA money committed by states to ''pavement improvement'' projects, nearly a tenth to bridge repair or replacement, and more than a quarter to road widening and construction of additional roads and bridges, experts see continuation of a typical trend.
''We have a long history of shortchanging cities and metropolitan areas and allocating transportation money to places where few people live,'' pointed out City University of New York Assistant Professor of Urban Planning Owen D. Gutfreund, author of ''20th Century Sprawl: Highways and the Reshaping of the American Landscape,'' Oxford University Press, 2004.
In some states, he noted, internal politics dictated the spread of the money to districts of as many lawmakers as possible, while in other states, distribution formulas favor rural areas or give priority to state-owned roads, often also in the countryside.
Having called for ending sprawl and ensuring the cost-effectiveness of federal transportation funds, the writers observe, Obama administration officials are watching stimulus expenditures nationwide to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the system.
''The transparency that comes with Recovery Act funds is letting us see what's happening in real time, and that's a good thing,'' said Transportation Undersecretary for Policy Roy Kienitz, former Surface Transportation Policy Project Executive Director, Maryland Secretary of Planning for Governor Parris N. Glendening, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. ''Understanding where recovery dollars go and why will help us determine how to shape long-term transportation policies with the goal of getting the most benefit for every dollar.''
See the newest TTI mobility report at http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/. -- New York Times 7/8/2009
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