U.S. Transit Agencies Seek $32 Billion of Federal Aid

(Bloomberg) -- Public transportation systems around the U.S. are asking the federal government for an additional $32 billion, double the amount lawmakers are proposing in the latest relief bill, to help mass-transit providers cover lost revenue during the coronavirus pandemic.

The funding request from New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and mass-transit systems in New Jersey, San Francisco and Atlanta comes as House Democrats Tuesday proposed a $3 trillion virus relief bill that would give $15.8 billion to public transportation networks.

Ridership on subways, buses and commuter-rail lines has plummeted across the U.S. as people work remotely and follow stay-at-home guidelines. Fare box revenue and other funding streams have fallen dramatically. While Congress allocated $25 billion for public transportation in the CARES Act, the ongoing impacts of the coronavirus are outpacing that historic allocation, Pat Foye, the MTA’s chief executive officer, told reporters during a press conference Tuesday.

“Not funding us at the levels that we’ve suggested -- and each agency has a different ask of course -- will slow and stunt the national recovery that we’re all going to need when the pandemic subsides,” Foye said.

The MTA, the largest U.S. mass-transit agency, is asking for an additional $3.9 billion of federal aid to help cover lost revenue and increased cleaning costs in 2020. The agency faces a potential $10.4 billion combined deficit for 2020 and 2021.

Raising money through the capital markets -- a standard practice for transit agencies to support infrastructure needs -- has also become more expensive. While the MTA last week was able to nearly double its transportation revenue bond sale to $1.1 billion, it had to increase by more than four times the additional yield compensation to attract investors to the deal.

“The cost of borrowing for agencies such as the MTA is significantly higher than it was a few months ago, making it more difficult and more expensive for us to borrow money to survive this crisis,” Foye said. “And we still need to refinance existing debt in the meantime.”

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