Metropolitan Chambers Urge Transit 
Investment

by Amy Anderson Day, Director,
Government Relations Division,
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

For the business community, traffic congestion is a growing threat to the economic “bottom line.” When it takes longer for employees to get to work – and they arrive frustrated – productivity is reduced, tardiness increases, and turnover rises.  Likewise, traffic congestion causes delays in shipping goods through and around metropolitan areas, raising the price of doing business…and often, the price of goods to the consumer. In short, business productivity and efficiency is at risk in an auto-only transportation environment.

For the business community in our nation’s major metropolitan areas, rapid-transit funding is seen as an essential infrastructure investment, one necessary to tackle the congestion problem.  Transit can bring employees to work quickly and efficiently, taking cars off the roads and freeing space for delivery vehicles.  Recent polling of the business community in the Chicagoland area shows that traffic is one of the issues of greatest concern, second only to finding qualified workers.  Some business leaders argue that these two issues are very directly linked.

Lack of transportation infrastructure in Illinois has been a growing problem.  In 1997 the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce worked with the Metropolitan Planning Council and Chicago Metropolis 2020 to form Business Leaders for Transportation (BLT).  BLT is a regional advocacy group, consisting largely of local chambers of commerce, that supports increased investment in transportation infrastructure.  This group was a catalyst for Governor George Ryan’s Illinois FIRST program which passed the state legislature in 1999.  This $13 billion spending program brought a necessary infusion of funding to Chicago-area transit systems. 

Building upon the success of BLT, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is now focusing on increased federal funding for transit systems.  With the re-authorization of TEA-21 just around the corner, the Chamber has begun working with sister organizations in other metropolitan areas where significant transit funding is being sought. 

As a result of these efforts, the National Business Coalition for Rapid Transit (NBCRT) was launched. Current members of the NBCRT are Chambers of Commerce from metropolitan areas including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, New Orleans, Miami, Pittsburgh, Boston, and Lancaster (PA), and other business groups like the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group and downtown alliances in Salt Lake City and Minneapolis.  These regions are among many across the country competing for New Starts funding.

The mission of NBCRT is to serve as the business voice for increased transit funding during the federal appropriations process.  The Chamber has hired Steve Schlickman, of Schlickman & Associates in Chicago to serve as NCBRT manager.  Mr. Schlickman has years of experience in federal transportation funding, and has served as the Chairman of the New Starts Working Group, based in Washington, DC.

The General Accounting Office has reported a significant shortfall of TEA-21 New Starts Funds for existing and proposed rapid transit projects. Under federal law, at least 20 percent of project costs must be funded locally.  Currently, only approximately 50 percent of transit projects include New Starts funding.  Nationally, New Starts program funds have been over-committed, making it very difficult for projects to obtain critical federal matching funds to build the necessary transit capacity needed in our nation’s metropolitan regions.

Working with other advocacy groups such as the American Public Transportation Association, the New Starts Working Group and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the NBCRT hopes to add credibility to this debate by ensuring federal lawmakers understand the importance of transit investment for the business community in metropolitan areas.

In October, NCBRT leaders met with federal transportation officials and key Congressional members, to weigh in on this issue.  Strategy meetings were also held with partner advocacy organizations.  With a Republican administration in the White House and a Republican majority in the House, the business community can certainly be an effective partner in this debate. 

The next step for the NBCRT will be to collect and disseminate information on the economic benefits of transit investment in metropolitan areas to help make the case for increased federal transit investment.  Over the next few years, the coalition is committed to increasing its membership, growing its voice, and continuing to influence the federal appropriations process.

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce was the first regional chamber in the nation, founded in 1946.  The Chamber serves as the unified voice of area businesses and provides its members with advocacy services, educational programs and networking opportunities.  For more information on the National Business Coalition for Rapid Transit, please contact Amy Anderson Day at 312/494-6725 or aanderson@chicagolandchamber.org , and/or NCBRT coalition manager Steve Schlickman at 312/920-0132 or steveschl@aol.com .