I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4367 

To alter requirements relating to recommendations for funding by the Federal 

Transit Administration of fixed guideway projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 16, 2009 

Mr. ELLISON (for himself and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To alter requirements relating to recommendations for funding by the Federal Transit Administration of fixed guideway projects, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transportation Equity 

5 Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) According to the National Surface Trans9 portation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, 

10 approximately 80 percent of the population of the 


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1 United States lives in metropolitan areas, with over 

2 60 percent of the population living in areas with at 

3 least 1,000,000 individuals. 

4 (2) Over 85 percent of the critical transpor5 tation infrastructure of the United States is in met6 ropolitan areas. 

7 (3) Metropolitan areas are most often com8 prised of several counties, cities, suburbs, and towns 

9 with commuting ties to an urban core. 

10 (4) According to the United States census, al11 most 50 percent of the 100 largest cities in the 

12 United States have predominantly minority popu13 lations, while suburbs are comprised of predomi14 nately Caucasian populations. 

15 (5) Throughout the United States, public trans16 portation users are disproportionately minorities 

17 with low to moderate incomes. Overall, public transit 

18 users are 45 percent Caucasian, 31 percent African19 American, and 18 percent Latino. 

20 (6) In urban areas, African-Americans and 

21 Latinos comprise 54 percent of public transportation 

22 users, including 62 percent of bus users, 35 percent 

23 of subway users, and 29 percent of commuter rail 

24 users. 


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1 (7) Just 7 percent of Caucasian households do 

2 not own a car, while 24 percent of African-American 

3 households, 17 percent of Latino households, and 13 

4 percent of Asian-American households do not own a 

5 car. 

6 (8) Public transit provides affordable transpor7 tation choices and has the demonstrated ability to 

8 reduce out-of-pocket housing and transportation ex9 penses for a household with access to transportation 

10 choices within .5 miles of the household. 

11 (9) The main criteria used by the Federal 

12 Transit Administration to make determinations with 

13 respect to providing Federal New Starts funding for 

14 a public transit project, known as the cost-effective15 ness index, has major limitations, including limita16 tions that negatively impact the ability of transit 

17 projects serving minorities in urban areas to effec18 tively compete for funding. 

19 (10) The primary calculation of the cost-effec20 tiveness index attempts to quantify the dollar value 

21 of a single benefit to users of Federal New Starts 

22 projects, travel time saved compared to a baseline 

23 project, while ignoring other important benefits. 

24 (11) The cost-effectiveness index relies solely on 

25 travel demand models oriented toward highway comVerDate Nov 24 2008 07:43 Dec 18, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4367.IH H4367

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1 muter trips. The models fail to accurately capture 

2 transit ridership by non-commuters and by individ3 uals making non-highway oriented trips, including 

4 trips made by pedestrians and cyclists. Because mi5 nority, low-income, and urban residents make up a 

6 larger share of non-commuter and non-highway ori7 ented trips, the cost-effectiveness index undercounts 

8 these individuals and places a reduced value on the 

9 time saved by the non-highway and non-commuter 

10 trips of these individuals. 

11 (12) The bias against urban transit users has 

12 caused some minority communities to file lawsuits 

13 against the Federal Transit Administration. 

14 (13) The Federal Transit Administration 

15 should end its reliance on the cost-effectiveness 

16 index because of the disproportionate negative im17 pact of the index on minority and urban commu18 nities. 

19 SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENTS. 

20 The adjustments made in the Federal Transit Ad21 ministrator’s Dear Colleague letter of April 29, 2005, to 

22 require a ‘‘medium’’ for the cost-effectiveness rating, in 

23 order for fixed guideway projects to be recommended for 

24 funding by the Federal Transit Administration, shall not 


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1 apply to any project evaluated under subsection (d) or (e) 

2 of section 5309 of title 49, United States Code. 

Æ 


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