Caltrain and other Bay Area transit agencies are bracing for funding impacts in light of the Department of Transportation’s recent announcement it would prioritize funding for communities that don’t have vaccine mandates, have high marriage and birth rates and fully comply with federal immigration enforcement — and eliminate funding for projects that focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The regional rail agency currently has $60 million in allocated federal funds, though they have not yet been received, placing the funds in a precarious position, especially in light of widespread government cost-cutting efforts. Future funding is meant to go toward purchasing four more electric trains and maintenance projects.
According to the DOT memo released Jan. 29, the department will “give preference to communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average,” prohibit recipients of DOT funds from imposing vaccine mandates and require local cooperation and compliance with federal immigration enforcement.
Vaccine mandates are common in the Bay Area, and San Mateo County, like many in the Bay Area, has policies that mean local law enforcement does not assist Immigrations and Custom Enforcement. The region’s birth rates also tend to be lower than the national average.
Another memo directs the department to implement several executive orders which direct federal agencies to eliminate all orders, rules, as well as “funding agreements, programs and policy statements … which reference or relate in any way to climate change” and greenhouse gas emissions.
“It may impact the agency in terms of prospective funding, but we’re trying to figure out …. if that would apply to existing funding agreements. The language in the memos is not entirely clear,” said Devon Ryan, officer of government and community affairs at Caltrain, during a board meeting Feb. 6. “So there is definitely some confusion that we’re trying to work through on our legal understanding of whether this is prospective or is it everything?”
While Caltrain launched its electrified service in August, electrification-related projects remain. The agency has long touted the effort as a critical means of reducing carbon emissions long term, spending $2 billion — half of which came from federal sources — to do so.
Most of the agency’s operating funds come from local and state sources, but unlike most transit operators, such as bus systems, rail agencies are particularly reliant on the federal government, not just for grant funding, but for permitting, inspection and infrastructure needs. Ryan said Caltrain staff work with the Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Transit Administration “all day every day.”
“Of most immediate concern is whether DOT will allow FTA and FRA to continue to reimburse legally binding commitments without interruption,” said Holland & Knight Partner Michael Galano. “We have not heard that FTA or the capital investment program is being specifically targeted, but obviously we are consistently monitoring that for any developments.”
(1) comment
Much to blame for this situation are Caltrain Board Members and YIMBY-endorsed politicians like Rico E. Medina, David J. Canepa, Jeff Gee.
Instead of pushing up Caltrain's ridership numbers by lowering prices, increasing service, promoting Safe-Routes-To-Transit, they all did the opposite.
Jeff Gee doesn't support Active Transportation or Safe-Routes-To-School in Redwood City. David J. Canepa as MTC board member apparently has supported re-routing public transportation funding to a slush fund [Mercury News]. David J. Canepa, Rico E. Medina, and the Papan family were "instrumental" in the 101 highway widening that keeps sabotaging Caltrain and SamTrans ridership and of course harms San Mateo's 'sustainability' and 'equity' claims.[C/CAG]
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