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Transit funding is a final obstacle to an infrastructure deal: What is the 80-20 split, and why ...
Transportation
Transit funding is a final obstacle to an infrastructure deal: What is the 80-20 split, and why does it matter?
An uneasy truce has shaped transportation spending since the 1980s. It’s under strain again in the latest negotiations.
By Ian Duncan
Yesterday at 1:34 p.m. EDT
Senate negotiators say they are close to finalizing a $1 trillion infrastructure deal, but funding for transit has emerged as one of the last big obstacles. Republicans and Democrats are sparring over a long-standing ratio of funding for highways and transit known as the 80-20 split.
The split — giving transit one dollar for each four that highways get — has its roots in the 1980s but has only been sustained by an uneasy truce between lawmakers. Republicans have sometimes proposed scaling back transit funding, while Democrats have hoped to increase its share. The dispute has arisen again as a group of senators tries to wrap up the infrastructure package.
In recent days, uncertainty over funding for buses and rail lines prompted some Democrats — who see spending on transit as a way to achieve environmental and racial-equity goals — to indicate that their support for the overall package was wavering. Some Republicans, meanwhile, are quick to highlight that transit agencies received $70 billion in coronavirus relief money, arguing they do not deserve another infusion of cash.
Why is federal transportation spending split the way it is?
The 80-20 approach has its roots in a 1982 effort to raise the federal gas tax by 5 cents. To gain the support of transit advocates, Congress agreed to deposit 1 cent in a new transit account, with the other 4 cents going to highways. In the years since, the split has become a shorthand for the government’s broader approach to funding transportation. ... If Congress simply continued to fund transportation at current levels and adjusted for inflation each year, spending would hew close to the ratio: Highways would get about 79 cents of every dollar, with transit getting the remaining 21 cents in five years.
{snip}
By Ian Duncan
Ian Duncan is a reporter covering federal transportation agencies and the politics of transportation. He previously worked at the Baltimore Sun for seven years, covering city hall, the military and criminal justice. He was part of the Sun's team covering Freddie Gray's death in 2015 and then-Mayor Catherine Pugh's Healthy Holly books scandal. Twitter https://twitter.com/iduncan
Transit funding is a final obstacle to an infrastructure deal: What is the 80-20 split, and why does it matter?
An uneasy truce has shaped transportation spending since the 1980s. It’s under strain again in the latest negotiations.
By Ian Duncan
Yesterday at 1:34 p.m. EDT
Senate negotiators say they are close to finalizing a $1 trillion infrastructure deal, but funding for transit has emerged as one of the last big obstacles. Republicans and Democrats are sparring over a long-standing ratio of funding for highways and transit known as the 80-20 split.
The split — giving transit one dollar for each four that highways get — has its roots in the 1980s but has only been sustained by an uneasy truce between lawmakers. Republicans have sometimes proposed scaling back transit funding, while Democrats have hoped to increase its share. The dispute has arisen again as a group of senators tries to wrap up the infrastructure package.
In recent days, uncertainty over funding for buses and rail lines prompted some Democrats — who see spending on transit as a way to achieve environmental and racial-equity goals — to indicate that their support for the overall package was wavering. Some Republicans, meanwhile, are quick to highlight that transit agencies received $70 billion in coronavirus relief money, arguing they do not deserve another infusion of cash.
Why is federal transportation spending split the way it is?
The 80-20 approach has its roots in a 1982 effort to raise the federal gas tax by 5 cents. To gain the support of transit advocates, Congress agreed to deposit 1 cent in a new transit account, with the other 4 cents going to highways. In the years since, the split has become a shorthand for the government’s broader approach to funding transportation. ... If Congress simply continued to fund transportation at current levels and adjusted for inflation each year, spending would hew close to the ratio: Highways would get about 79 cents of every dollar, with transit getting the remaining 21 cents in five years.
{snip}
By Ian Duncan
Ian Duncan is a reporter covering federal transportation agencies and the politics of transportation. He previously worked at the Baltimore Sun for seven years, covering city hall, the military and criminal justice. He was part of the Sun's team covering Freddie Gray's death in 2015 and then-Mayor Catherine Pugh's Healthy Holly books scandal. Twitter https://twitter.com/iduncan
