— Compiled By
What are some challenges the public transit industry will face in 2017?White: We are looking forward to developing a good working relationship with the new [presidential] administration, key appointees and key congressional leadership. The most urgent challenge is for APTA and its members to make the case for increased investment in public transportation during the discussion of an infrastructure package to stimulate growth and create jobs during the first 100 days and beyond of the new administration and Congress. We will emphasize that investing in public transportation more than pays for itself because it yields great economic benefits; every dollar communities invest in public transportation, approximately four dollars is generated in economic returns. This investment will be crucial as America continues to deal with the challenge our crumbling infrastructure. In the public transportation industry, we are facing an $86-billion-dollar backlog in state of good repair needs.Dick White
Another important challenge will be the implementation of positive train control (PTC). According to an analyses we just completed, the commuter-rail industry has made significant progress on PTC and we are on schedule to meet Congressional deadlines. The industry has acquired more than two-thirds of the spectrum and half of the radio towers have been erected. In addition, 40 percent of the back office control systems are ready for operation, and we are making great progress on implementing PTC on the more than 3,150 route miles of track. Some are actually in service or in full PTC demonstration awaiting Federal Railroad Administration approvals. This progress on this complex safety technology demonstrates our ongoing commitment to safety – which is our number one priority.
Finally, our continuing challenge this year as in others is to stay laser focused on providing safe, reliable service to the Americans who board public transportation 35 million times each weekday – more than 10.7 billion trips per year. This is particularly important for commuters as our recent study shows that a person can reduce his or her chance of being in an accident by more than 90 percent simply by taking public transit as opposed to commuting by car. Investing in transit-oriented communities, which spurs compact development, results in cutting a community's crash risk in half, even for those who do not use public transit.