TRANSIT FINANCING TRENDS IN LARGE U.S. METROPOLITAN AREAS: 1973-1978

From 1970 to 1978, total government subsidization of transit in the United States increased almost tenfold, from only $540 million to $5264 million. This burgeoning aid program has prompted significant changes in the nature of government assistance. There has been a marked shift among government levels in the responsibility for transit financing, and new tax mechanisms have been adopted, particularly at the local and regional levels, to raise additional transit funds. This paper documents these transit financing trends in detail and explores briefly the potentially significant impact of these trends on the overall equity, efficiency, and political feasibility of transit financing. On the basis of operating subsidy data collected from transit agencies in each of the 26 largest U.S. metropolitan areas and capital subsidy data for all urban areas provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation, two main conclusions were reached. First, the responsibility for transit financing has shifted to higher levels of government so that, in 1978, the federal government contributed 52 percent of the total subsidy. Second, there has been a very strong trend toward the use of uniform-rate regional taxes specifically earmarked for transit subsidization. (Author)

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1980/759/759-002.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=TRANSIT+FINANCING+TRENDS+IN+LARGE+U.S.+METROPOLITAN+AREAS%3A+1973-1978&author=J.+Pucher&publication_year=1980
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309030749
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Local Transportation Finance. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Pucher, John
• Conference:
  • 59th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1980-1-21 to 1980-1-25
• Publication Date: 1980

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 6-12
• Monograph Title: Critical Issues in Urban Transit Finance and Management
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 759
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Federal aid; Finance; Financing; Metropolitan areas; Public transit; Subsidies; Transportation; Trend (Statistics)
• Subject Areas: Finance; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00330083
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309030749
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 21 1982 12:00AM