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Old Posted Sep 9, 2019, 5:04 AM
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electricron electricron is offline
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Location: Granbury, Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by accord1999 View Post
I don't think they're poorly funded so much as getting very little value for the money spent.
Dallas:
That data point does not include DART's non operating revenues collected from sales taxes and federal grants. Here's the full report....
https://www.dart.org/ShareRoot/debtd...cialReport.pdf

Keeping it simple, DART collected $593 million in sales taxes, $98 million from federal grants, and $75 million from fares. Local contribution of revenues amounting to around 85%, Uncle Same contribution around 15%.

https://www.transportation.gov/sites...hts-book_0.pdf
If we take this same ratio nationally, and totaled FTA and FRA allocations from the USDOT in 2018 was all for transit, around $13 billion, here's some math that might surprise you.
15/13 = 85/x, cross multiplying 15x=13 x 85, x = 1105/15 = 73.6667

Yes, local governments and local agencies should have contriibuted around $74 billion for transit, adding the $13 billion Uncle Sam contributed should total around $87 billion for transit in 2018. That's assuming DART's ratios are the same nationally - which I have no idea is true or not.

But the major point I would like to make is that FTA and FRA allocations of around $13 billion does not really reflect what America as a whole is spending on transit. In 2018, per wiki America has 327 million population. some more math: $87 billion / 327 million people = $266 per person could have been spent on transit. That per person, not per rider. In Dallas less than 2% ride public transit. That varies significantly nationally.
I'm not sure how that stacks up world wide - but I do not think it is as low as many think it is, because they are looking at 15% data instead of 100% overlooking and forgetting about the other 85%.
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