“It simply makes sense to re-establish parity between parking and mass transit benefits,” McGovern testified before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures. “It’s good for employers, good for employees, good for the environment and helps take cars off our congested roads.”

According to a statement from McGovern’s office, commuters who drive to work and park are eligible for up to $240 in pre-tax benefits per month from their employer while commuters who take mass transit are only eligible for up to $125 a month. Commuters who drive and park were additionally eligible for an increase in their monthly parking benefit at the start of 2012 because of an automatic cost-of-living adjustment.

McGovern’s bill, the Commuter Benefits Equity Act, has 74 bipartisan cosponsors.

Transit authorities project the Van Ness BRT will cost between $90 million and $130 million. More than $100 million in funding has already been identified from planned sources such as the Federal Transit Administration’s Small Starts program, the Prop K local sales tax measure for transportation and local developer contributions. Officials say construction could begin in 2014 with service beginning as early as 2016.

In addition to providing transit benefits, transit officials say their plan would increase safety along the corridor by reducing conflicts with left turning cars and adding pedestrian improvements like curbbulbs, countdown and audible pedestrian signals, and pedestrian lighting.

“Van Ness BRT will speed up service and transform Van Ness Avenue into a truly complete street,” said David Campos, chair of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. “I’m thrilled the Authority and [the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency] are recommending a cost‐effective proposal that will provide transportation benefits for San Francisco residents and visitors alike.”

“The Van Ness BRT project will demonstrate an exciting new mode of bus transit, serving as a model for the nation as we strive to meet the challenges of growth and global warming with limited resources,” said José Luis Moscovich, executive director of the Authority.

The total estimated cost for both contracts is $43.4 million. The contracts are for five-year terms, with an option for two additional years.

The option to award the LIFT’s transit service contract to MV Transportation, Inc., will save an estimated $1.25 million annually, as compared to providing the same service internally.

El Paso will continue to maintain oversight over both fixed-route and LIFT transportation services to ensure that customer service for all Sun Metro clientele improves, and ongoing compliance with service standards are met at the highest levels.

Additionally, the City does not anticipate any LIFT employees to be without comparable employment as it will implement a substantial staffing strategy. For employees who wish to stay with the city of El Paso, Sun Metro will continue to freeze key vacancies at the ever-growing fixed route and will likely be able to absorb most, if not all, employees. Employees also may choose to work in other city departments, or for MV Transportation, Inc.

Free to the public at www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/pcs/index.aspx, the bus safety checklist encourages travelers to first look at the on-road safety performance, safety rating and consumer complaint history of a bus company before buying a ticket or booking a trip.

In addition to using the bus safety checklist, consumers can download for free FMCSA’s SaferBus app, which provides quick and easy access to the safety records on nearly 6,000 interstate passenger carriers operating in the U.S.

Established in 1951, Great Lakes Coach is one of the area’s leading providers of specialty vehicles. The company has gone from selling and servicing city transit buses to providing transportation solutions for clients in a variety of fields.

For more than 70 years TESCO has provided quality products, service and support. The company is an exclusive dealer of new and used transportation vehicles for senior living, school or church, hotel, and shuttle use from a large 71-passenger, heavy-duty transporters to a smaller vehicles. TESCO handles bus fleets large and small ranging from Midwest transit equipment sales to national bus sales.

The analysis used historical trends and independent research data to make predictions on the impact gas prices would have on public transit ridership across the nation. It showed that on average, nationwide public transportation systems will add nearly 200 million new trips this year even as gas prices fluctuate by as much as 50 cents per gallon.

For example, as gas prices approached an average of $4 a gallon nationally this year, the analysis predicted an additional 290 million passenger trips could be expected on average for the year, resulting in more than 10.7 billion trips per year. Even as gas prices drop to $3.75, the analysis predicted there would still be an additional 240 million passenger trips because of the volatile up and down nature of fuel prices. These behaviors show that Americans are looking for a long-term, sustainable alternative to driving.

APTA and BAF noted that commuters are initially drawn to public transportation because of gas price spikes but remained public transit users even when gas prices drop because of the numerous benefits of public transportation. The groups said that the nation’s public transportation infrastructure is not prepared to handle the long-term unpredictable nature of gas prices.

“The volatility of gas prices continue to highlight the vital need for our nation’s leaders to provide long-term solutions to the increasing demand for public transportation,” said APTA President Michael Melaniphy. “Nearly all experts agree that the swings in gas prices will continue for the foreseeable future. As millions of Americans are expected to turn to public transportation for a way to save money, we must address the ongoing capacity issues faced by many systems around the country. Congress must provide stable investments to allow public transit systems of all sizes from coast to coast to meet demand.”

“We know these up and down spikes in gas prices will bring more riders,” said Curtis Stitt, president and CEO of the Central Ohio Transit Authority. “We must invest now or our system will not be able to accommodate this influx of new public transit riders looking for alternatives to driving.”

The projected estimates use the 2011 APTA Public Transportation Ridership Report as a baseline. To show ridership growth, this elasticity projection is compared to a given increase above the average price for regular gasoline as reported in the last 2011 report by the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy.

A copy of the report can be found at www.apta.com.

The transit line includes dedicated bus lanes along Sahara Avenue and traffic signal improvements that will help reduce travel times for riders along the 12-mile corridor. The system features solar-powered lighting in passenger shelters, ticket vending machines, and elevated station platforms that ease boarding. The project is part of a comprehensive transit network connecting various BRT routes with double-decker buses and the Las Vegas Monorail.

“The Sahara BRT Express line offers a one-seat ride, no need to transfer, to thousands of workers traveling from their homes in the Valley to jobs downtown and along the Strip,” said Rogoff. “It’s a reliable and desirable way to travel – and helps people keep more of their hard-earned paychecks in their wallets instead of paying it at the pump.”

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada received $34.4 million toward the $45.2 million project from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s competitive Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program.

“President Obama’s blueprint for an America built to last means investing in transportation systems that will keep people and goods moving,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This project will help people get to work and help Las Vegas develop a modern, energy-efficient transit system that will reduce congestion and support the region’s economic comeback for years to come.”

Cubic will contribute $500,000 over five years to the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering to fund research done by faculty, students and Cubic Transportation Systems staff.  The project aims to achieve a better understanding of the application and utilization of emerging technologies, with the ultimate goal of making transportation easier, more convenient, more economical and environmentally greener for transit operators and their customers.

“The partnership with UC San Diego will help Cubic realize its vision of mobility in the future – what we call Nextcity,” said Matt Cole, senior vice president of strategy and business development. “Consumer mobile devices, wireless communications and account-based payment processing create the opportunity to make significant new information available to travelers.”

Through integration of regional transport payments and traveler data, Nextcity will deliver personalized information to passengers so they can make informed travel choices. “Our  research will make better use of the existing data and seek innovative ways to apply this information and technology to better the traveler’s experience, and improve the efficiency and utilization of the transportation system and a city’s resources,” said Pradip Mistry, vice president of engineering.

The research partnership potentially spans mobile and web technologies, wireless networking, location-based services, data warehousing and system architecture and analytics, all areas of expertise at the university.

Combining the broad scope of the university’s research expertise across these domains with Cubic’s insight into the transportation sector will be instrumental to finding practical yet innovative new approaches, said Frieder Seible, Dean of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and holder of the Walter J. Zable Professor endowed chair at the school. “Cubic has been a long-standing partner of UC San Diego and the Jacobs School, and we see this new collaboration as a way to deepen that relationship with our faculty and students.”

Cubic is the global leader in intelligent transport systems and services. With Cubic’s “smart” fare payment cards and advanced integrated ticketing systems users board vehicles faster, travel and transfer between modes more easily. Transit operators see the benefits of shorter boarding times and better data on transport usage patterns.

Cubic is also supporting account-based processing for open payment standards, enabling transit riders to use their own fare media, such as a bank-issued MasterCard PayPass or Visa payWave credit, debit and prepaid contactless smart cards or an NFC-enabled mobile phone.

With more than 20 years of contactless smart card payment experience in the transit industry, Cubic has active open payment projects with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Transport for London (TfL), TransLink in Vancouver and New Jersey and Delaware’s Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) system, the first in the world to use transit-branded contactless Visa prepaid cards. Account-based processing opens up the opportunity for the integration of transit payment with other forms of transport payment such as tolling and parking.

The Cubic and UC San Diego research collaboration will help discover new technologies and strategies that reduce the costs and increase the utility of these services.

During his remarks Congressman Shuster pointed to motorcoach safety as a key issue in the House and Senate Conference Committee on transportation reauthorization.

The ABA supports the science based approach proposed by Rep. Shuster in the BUSES act and H.R 7.

“New vehicle requirements should be promulgated based on what will actually save lives and protect passengers, not a rush to regulate.” said Congressman Shuster. “Improving safety standards based on sound scientific research, testing, and analysis, are key elements of reform.”

On the larger topic of the transportation reauthorization, Mr. Shuster said he supported current funding levels to maintain America’s roads and bridges.

“Surface transportation reauthorization is essential to creating American jobs and maintaining our competitive advantage in the world economy,” Shuster said.

“We are very grateful to Congressman Shuster for his support of the motorcoach industry,” said ABA Chairman Tom JeBran. “He has long been a strong advocate for safer motorcoaches and improving America’s roads.”

Capital Metro Vice President of Bus & Paratransit Services Dottie Watkins presents the international champion trophy to Bus Operator Arthur Murillo.

Arthur Murillo, who has been driving Capital Metro buses for 28 years, was the overall Roadeo champion and took first place in the 35-foot bus category, besting 19 other competitors. He previously won the international champion title in 2008, 2005 and 2002.

Capital Metro mechanics Phillip O’Neal, Jaime Ayala and John Proske also competed in the international competition. Overall, Capital Metro’s combined score results ranked 7th out of 28 teams.

“Capital Metro is proud to be represented among the best bus operators and mechanics competing at the international level,” said Capital Metro President/CEO Linda S. Watson. “Congratulations to Arthur Murillo for picking up his fourth championship. It’s such an outstanding achievement.”

Sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association, the international Roadeo allows Capital Metro bus operators and mechanics to demonstrate their skills and professionalism as they compete among the top peers in their field. Getting to the international level is a feat on its own since competitors have to initially place at the local and state level.