Back in the 1970s, when we had a real energy crisis, the federal government provided real dollars for operating public transit.
That well started going dry in the 1980s. President Ronald Reagan wanted to eliminate this money and the Democratic Congress fought him. But dollars were capped, and the trend against transit investment continued through succeeding administrations. Direct federal assistance for operating buses, light rail and such disappeared entirely about four years ago.
Now we're looking at President Bush's new energy policy. Conspicuous in its absence is any prominent mention of public transit.
That's not good news in Allegheny County, where 10 percent of all trips are via mass transit. In the city, it's 20 percent, with more than half of Downtown workers riding buses or the rail. Whether you're a transit rider or someone who wouldn't board a bus on a bet, you don't want those numbers to shrink. Because the last thing anyone riding the parkways needs is more cars ahead.
There is good news, though, for those who see mass transit as part of the answer to stemming America's addiction to imported oil. That came when the Republican agenda in Congress went off the rails.
Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont announced Thursday that he wasn't having any fun being a Republican anymore. That sets up the Democrats to take the reins of the Senate.
Paul Skoutelas, director of the Port Authority, was already lobbying for full funding of transit before the unprecedented Senate switcheroo. Though Skoutelas compliments Pennsylvania's two Republican U.S. senators, Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, for being "very strong transit advocates," their party hasn't been strongest on the idea.
So what the nation's transit managers are watching is something called the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, or TEA 21. Approved by Congress three summers ago, TEA 21 authorizes $7.7 billion for mass transit in the next fiscal year. The Republican Congress appropriated only $6.7 billion, however.
U.S. Rep. Bill Coyne, the veteran Democrat from Pittsburgh, says the odds now are good for finding that missing billion somewhere and moving it back into transit.
"I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, the higher the number being the more likely it will change, I'd say we're at a 7," Coyne said.
"Certainly when TEA 21 was passed, it envisioned increases by the year for mass transit," Coyne said. "I don't think in midstream now we ought to go back and cut it off and reduce it for the sake of giving the tax break to some of the most wealthy people in the country."
The tax cut isn't going anywhere, but the budget is a thick document. America's missing bus money should be in there somewhere.
The American Public Transportation Association figures that for every 1,000 people who leave their cars at home each workday, America saves 273,000 gallons of fuel each year. While that might not be enough to fill all the SUVs in the North Hills for the summer, anything that reduces the nation's thirst for gasoline should help those who depend on it -- and who doesn't?
If America's transit capital investment is fully funded, the Port Authority should find itself with another $8 million or so. That could pay for new buses.
"That's probably the biggest need we have," Skoutelas said. "The useful life of a bus is 12 years, and we like an average age of six to 61/2 years. We're buying 75 buses a year."
Each bus costs about $300,000, so $8 million would get the authority better than a third of the buses it needs for the year. That could free money for park-n-ride lots and other needs.
With parking already at a premium in the city, with ozone action days part of the summer experience, with parkways that seem clogged by Pittsburgh standards if not by American standards, the people not turning an ignition key at rush hour are not just saving money, they're practically patriots.
Brian O'Neill's e-mail address is boneill@post-gazette.com.
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