Federal emergency pass-through funding is heading to local transit agencies in the Puget Sound. The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) Executive Board finalized the allocations using typical distribution formulas last week. The planned funding distribution is slightly different from the preliminary allocations released earlier this month. Transit agencies provided feedback on the preliminary allocations and formula approach with general support. In total, the PSRC is responsible for allocating approximately $538.5 million in funding to nearly a dozen transit agencies as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The $2 trillion CARES Act was passed by Congress in March as a national economic relief program to support communities during the coronavirus epidemic with $25 billion pegged for essential service that transportation agencies provide. Transit agencies can use funding for operational, administrative, and capital expenses in order to respond to the coronavirus epidemic and continue service. The PSRC has reported that agencies are losing significant revenues and that all plan to use the emergency funding to cover operating expenses and lost revenues. Individual transit agencies will need to work directly with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to receive their allocated grants for eligible expenses.
Derek Young, a Pierce County Councilmember and PSRC boardmember, did raise frustrations over funding allocations on his personal Twitter account after the vote.
“We distribute FTA dollars based on current service levels. Because Washington localizes nearly all transit funding, that means the areas generating the least amount of revenue and providing the fewest service hours will receive disproportionately few dollars,” he wrote. “The disparities this creates between communities like Pierce County versus our peers are shocking and unjust. Today’s measure was a symptom of that problem and one we must fix.”
