Statement of Mayor Brent Coles
To the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
January 24, 2002
Mr.
Chairman and Members of the Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works,
I am Brent Coles, Mayor of Boise, Idaho.
I
appear today on behalf of The U.S. Conference of Mayors where I serve as the
Conference’s immediate past president and member of the Executive
Committee. The Conference of Mayors
represents more than 1,000 cities with a population of more than 30,000.
Mr.
Chairman, I want to thank you and other Members of this panel for holding these
hearings today, as we approach the next phase of “Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century” or
TEA-21.
On
September 11 the world witnessed an attack on America that was unimaginable. The attacks instantly revealed the
importance to our national security of a balanced, multi-modal, resilient, and
secure transportation system. While our
transportation agencies and businesses struggled heroically to deal with the
tragedy, many travelers did not make it home for a week. Securing our transportation system is viewed
as a prerequisite to eliminating the anxiety that has accelerated the nation’s
economic downturn and to achieving economic security for the nation.
Fortunately,
we have tools to deal with this crisis, provided by visionary federal
transportation laws known as ISTEA and TEA-21.
TEA-21 provided the resources necessary to make investments in our
transportation network that enabled immediate and quick emergency response.
In
the weeks since that attack, mayors across the nation have mobilized the local
resources provided through TEA-21 to protect their citizens in the event of
further terrorist activity. The national security benefits of ISTEA were hardly
anticipated when the bill was passed ten years ago, but the events of 2001
demonstrated the critical importance of this law. As they always have done in
times of crisis, mayors assumed visible leadership roles, both in their cities
and throughout their metropolitan regions.
They have engaged in critical examinations of the local, state and
federal resources, as well as the security infrastructure that exist to do
this.
Now,
as the nation recovers from the tragedy of September 11, America’s mayors stand
ready on the domestic front lines at assist in every way possible. We are the “domestic troops” in the war on
terrorism, as Conference President Marc Morial of New Orleans has stated. The
wealth of resources provided by TEA-21 has most certainly strengthened our
ability to do this.
When Fort Worth Mayor Ken Barr, the Conference’s
Transportation and Communications Chair, testified before the Subcommittee last
April, his statement highlighted a number of issues pertaining to TEA-21. I will speak to these issues and others in
more detail in my testimony.
As
a starting point, I want to emphasize a statement by Mayor Barr, which captures
the Conference’s broader view on TEA-21.
He said, “TEA-21 certainly provides the tools and the laboratory, but it
doesn't guarantee success. This is up
to local elected officials working with the governors and state transportation
officials to use the tools you have provided.”
We commend this Committee and others in Congress and
the Administration, for providing us with the opportunity under TEA-21 to meet
our surface transportation challenges.
Mr. Chairman, I know that in your capacity as Senator of Vermont, you
are one of the pioneers of the concept of transportation-oriented development. Transportation touches every aspect of our modern lives. We
thank you for your leadership in this area.
I
am here to provide context for our views on where we are today with the
implementation of TEA-21. Many of the
issues highlight the importance of cities to the success of the TEA-21
partnership.
First,
I would like to call your attention to several emerging issues that have
considerable bearing on the Committee’s review of TEA-21 implementation.
First,
let me talk about the Conference’s work on developing new information on the
role of city/county metro economies in fueling U.S. economic growth. Since 1999, we have released annual data, prepared by Standard &
Poor’s DRI, which measures the Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) figures for the
nation’s city/county metro areas.
As
the focal points of economic activity, metropolitan areas are vital to the
nation’s continued economic development.
The contribution of metro areas to the national economy has increased
over the last decade, a trend that is expected to continue over the next
twenty-five years.
If
they were counted as a single country, the gross product of the five largest
U.S. metropolitan areas ($1.59 trillion) would rank fourth among the world’s
economies, trailing only the U.S ($9.96 trillion), Japan ($4.6 trillion) and
Germany ($1.87 trillion). The
importance of metro area economies can also be illustrated by their size
relative to the output of U.S. states.
The gross product of the 10 largest metro areas exceeds the combined output
of the 31 smallest states. In the
study, we found that 47 of the top 100 economies in the world are U.S.
city/county metro areas.
The
size of metro area economies illustrates their importance to the nation. Mr.
Chairman, the implications of this information for federal and state
policy-makers are far-reaching. There
is no doubt in my mind that the resources provided by ISTEA and TEA-21 have
played a significant role in the economic vitality of cities and metro
regions. The Conference stands ready to
work with you and this Committee as you craft future surface transportation
policy.
In
anticipation of this discussion, we recently surveyed a group of mayors,
principally those serving on the Conference’s Transportation Committee, to
solicit their general views on how the TEA-21 is working. Let me provide a quick review of the
responses from 40 mayors who completed the survey.
Nearly
one-half of the mayors indicated that under TEA-21, their state had committed additional
funding or planned to commit additional funds to local projects of particular
priority to the city or region. When we
asked if their metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) had set any targets
for fair share funding under TEA-21, one-half of the respondents said yes.
Based
on the survey, it appears that states are reaching out to local governments
under TEA-21. Seventy percent (70
percent) of the respondents indicated that their governors or state
transportation officials had contacted them about new funding available under
TEA-21. However, only 40 percent of
mayors have been asked to participate in a state process to decide funding
priorities for TEA-21 dollars.
When
asked to indicate the single most important surface transportation priority in
their city or region, the mayors’ top three responses were System Preservation
at 35 percent, Congestion Relief at 20 percent and New Rail Projects at 15
percent. The remaining 30 percent of
the responses included alternative transportation, new freeways, freeway
expansion, transportation access to brownfield sites, safety, bridge repair and
major road widening. Mayors were asked
to write the response, rather than choosing from a list.
I
do not think mayors can overstate the importance of infrastructure to the
economic health of our cities and regions and transportation infrastructure is
clearly one of our highest priorities.
Though
suburban sprawl may conjure up visions of LA or Phoenix, the rugged, southwest
corner of Idaho also faces significant traffic and air quality problems
stemming from rapid growth. During the
past decade, Boise, Idaho had the second highest growth rate in the country.
For
the first time, our residents began to think seriously about transportation
issues. Our legendary “rush-minutes”
lengthened and people began to experience longer, less tolerable commutes. Policy makers began to look at ways to
protect our quality of life from the impacts of sprawl. Our highly conservative region began to
discuss ideas like transit oriented development, protection of open space, and
commuter rail.
Four
years ago, we formed a working group called the Treasure Valley
Partnership. The Partnership consists
of mayors and commissioners from general purpose governments in two
counties. This group embodies the
collaborative principles set out in TEA-21.
As a Partnership, we have brought together business, community groups,
and local government to make new connections between transportation and land
use. I believe that our entire process
of governance in the region has been improved and policy decisions are made in
more informed and strategic manner, so that all citizens are better served.
The
Partnership began to look seriously at what our region will look like at full
build-out. For the first time, we put our comprehensive plans side by side to
see if they are consistent with each other.
Our planning staffs have begun to talk more and cooperate more. Our transportation plans have more regional
buy-in.
The
Partnership has directly benefited from TEA-21. Working in collaboration with Idaho Smart Growth and our MPO, we
obtained a $500,000 grant for a visioning process that has engaged the entire
region in a discussion of sprawl and traffic, and their link to land use. The money has been leveraged with other
grant funds to conduct pilot projects which model the conclusions of the
broader study.
Based
on the principles of TEA-21, the City of Boise purchased more than 18 miles of
railroad track and right-of-way that was about to be abandoned by Union Pacific
Railroad. We used general fund property
tax dollars for this purchase, even though the track is located entirely
outside our corporate city limits. We
raised private funds to purchase Boise’s historic train depot. We did this to preserve the infrastructure
that will be needed someday for commuter and passenger rail service in our
region.
The
residents of our two-county area went to the Idaho Legislature for the
authority to establish regional transit programs. Then, voters overwhelmingly approved creation of a regional
transit authority. We have yet to be
given a dedicated funding source by the Legislature, but Boise City has
provided funding to hire an executive director and we are allowing the regional
transit authority to assume operation of our bus system.
This
is progress that would not have occurred without the guidance and encouragement
provided by ISTEA and TEA-21. There is
more to be done, but we believe we are on the right track.
Closing
Comments
Now,
Mr. Chairman, last Friday I was informed of the potential $9 billion dollar
shortfall in TEA-21 allocations to the states for FY 03. If the shortfall is passed onto states, the
funds allocated under TEA-21 in FY 03 would be less than the base amounts
promised to states for highways and transit.
As you might imagine, this would have serious repercussions. The State of Idaho, for example, would lose
more than 25 percent of our federal transportation funding. California would lose $741 million dollars
and Texas would lose $626 million. It’s
estimated that nationwide we would lose an estimated 144,000 jobs by FY 04.
I
know that this is new information and that the impacts of the shortfall have
yet to be fully explored. I pledge to
you the assistance of the Conference of Mayors as you work toward resolution of
this issue.
Mr.
Chairman, the issues I have discussed today affect all of our cities. Our cities as neighborhoods -- protecting
quality of life -- and our cities as regions -- competing in a global economy –
must have transportation funds as tools to carry out our responsibilities
within the regional context. In our
region, adequate funding and air quality constraints continue to hamper our
potential success. You have the
opportunity to permit us to respond better to both our responsibilities to
enhance quality of life and increase competitiveness in a world economy.
The
nation’s mayors believe in the ISTEA partnership, and look forward to the opportunity
to build upon this success under TEA-21.
Mr.
Chairman, as you move forward on TEA-21 Reauthorization, you can count on the
mayors’ active participation and support.
Thank you for this opportunity to present our views.