News Headlines

The two co-chairs of the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform,  former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) and former chief of staff to President Clinton Erskine Bowles, have released policy recommendations that include a gradual increase of the federal gas tax by 15 cents per gallon, starting in 2013, to fund transportation investments. The commission is charged with making a comprehensive set of recommendations by Dec. 1 that greatly reduce the federal debt.

Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and George Voinovich (R-OH) developed the gasoline tax proposal and have been urging Simpson, Bowles, and other commission members to address transportation investment in the commission’s recommendations.  APTA has supported the Carper-Voinovich proposal and joined with other transportation organizations in praising the recommendations of the co-chairs.

APTA President William Millar discussed the benefits of public transportation and the role of the private sector in a debate held at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, DC, on Nov. 10. Millar rebutted the assertion by Cato's Randal O'Toole that all public transportation should be operated exclusively by private entities, with no government investment. Millar emphasized there has always been a strong role for private industry in public transit and that private businesses and public-private partnerships will remain a crucial partner in the future, as will partners at all levels of government.

A detailed rebuttal of O'Toole's claims has been developed by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

Save the Date

Don't miss the opportunity to show off the skills of your public transit system's front line of customer service: your call center staff. Public transit systems have until Dec. 17 to nominate an employee in the annual APTA Call Center Challenge, to be held at the 2011 Marketing & Communications Workshop in San Diego, CA, on March 1.

In the Media

The blog Buffalo (NY) Rising featured a new tool that helps the public map the availability of public transit.

BBC News reported on the unveiling of the next London double-decker bus.

The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that New Jersey Transit will soon expand its use of "quiet cars" on certain rail lines, after a successful two-month pilot program.