March 30, 2011
Public Transit Faces Cuts in Walker’s Budget
While increasing funding for state highways, Governor Walker’s proposed budget reduces funding for public transit and changes public transit’s funding source to make it more difficult to secure funding in future budgets. The Department of Transportation summary of changes can be found here. Walker’s budget would damage public transportation through three main changes:
- Cut the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) aid to local mass transit systems by 10 percent in calendar year 2012 and thereafter. Local systems may address the cuts in state aid by raising prices or reducing service, but however they deal with the coming shortfall, it will undoubtedly have a negative effect on Wisconsin families as they try to get to school or work.
- Eliminate state funding for the Intercity Bus Assistance Program, which increases the connectedness of Wisconsin’s major metropolitan areas with each other and with more rural areas. Travel across Wisconsin will become more difficult as intercity bus service providers cut bus routes to and from major cities, further limiting commuting options for Wisconsin students and workers.
- Shift the funding source for mass transit operating aids from the transportation fund to the general fund beginning in the 2012-2013 fiscal year. This change will have significant impacts on future transit funding because it will force public transit to compete with the many other programs supported by the general fund, such as K-12 education and aid for local services, for spending. The transfer of public transit from the transportation fund represents an additional $106.5 million that must be covered by the general fund, despite Walker’s claims that steep general fund cuts are necessary because the general fund is “broke” (via the Wisconsin Budget Project). Meanwhile, the budget strengthens the transportation fund by shifting funds from sales and use taxes on automobile-related sales, the environmental impact fee, and the petroleum inspection fund into the transportation fund and by issuing $115 million in general fund supported bonds to support the highway program. These changes shore up the transportation fund at the cost of the general fund and the many programs it funds.
These changes will undoubtedly have a negative effect on funding for public transit both in the coming biennium and in the future. Public transit plays an ever more important role for Wisconsin families. Because Wisconsin school districts are not required to provide transportation to a pupil who lives less than two miles from school, public transit is a vital option for parents trying to get their children to school, especially in the winter. As gas prices rise, more Wisconsinites look to public transit as an alternative to get to work, school, and daily errands. Public transportation offers a more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way to travel, and Walker’s choice to increase state highway funds while cutting public transit demonstrates short-term thinking and a lack of consideration for Wisconsin’s working and middle class families.
