1. State Perspective on Public Transportation
Transit Citizen Leadership Academy, October 2016

2. Public Transit in Every County of Tennessee
Large Urban Systems
Service 7 days per week with service until late in the evening
Fixed route fixed routes that run on set schedules with a set routing
Complimentary paratransit service
Small Urban Systems
Vary widely around the state – from citywide service to tourist services
Less likely to offer evening or weekend service
Demand Response Systems
Nine systems serve residents of rural areas of the state
Trips need to be reserved in advance and service is provided door-to-door
Very few of these systems provide evening or weekend service
Riders are often the states most vulnerable citizens

3. Statewide Trips by Transit Agency Type
Total of 34.5 million trips statewide in 2015

4. Statewide Trips

5. Large Urban Transit Ridership 2010-2015

6. State’s Role in Transit
Funding Partner
Serve as a conduit for certain federal funds
Provide state matching funds for FTA formula grants
Addressing Regional Transportation Corridors: Example of I-24
Bus on Shoulder
Expanding the MTA’s transit signal priority project on Murfreesboro Road
Exploring possibility of subsidizing Uber or Lyft trips to pickup points for Murfreesboro-Nashville Express Commuter service
Leading the Conversation about the Impact of New Technologies
Our past and present role has been primarily as a funding partner.
TDOT has a budget of about $49 million for transit statewide. Much of this is used for TDOT to provide 50% of the non-federal share for formula transit grants from FTA
The remainder is typically used for operating subsidies.
We expect that this role as a funding partner will continue in the future, though if additional funds become available we are likely to focus more on capital projects rather than operating subsidies.
In the future though TDOT’s most important role will probably be as  a partner with transit agencies in projects to improve mobility on major regional commuter corridors. 
Large scale regional high capacity transit projects require a lot of right of way, and state DOTs happen to have control of a lot of linear pieces of real estate.
We are fortunate that while highways dominate TDOT’s activities, our Commissioner recognizes that it is not possible to build our way out of traffic congestion.
In some cases adding lanes is not physically possible, in other cases it is prohibitively expensive, and where expansion is possible, new capacity quickly fills up with latent demand.

7. Bus-on-Should in Suburban Chicago: PACE
I-24 BOS?
Potentially 19 miles of bus on shoulder use
Would allow the bus to pass through the corridor in 17 minutes compared to 30 minutes in the general purpose lane when it is moving at 20 mph
Shoulders would need widening a bit, pavement thickness would need to be beefed up
Last session TN’s General Assembly passed legislation allowing TDOT to grant permission for bus on shoulder ops
Ballpark cost - $2.4M
Next steps – more comprehensive assessment of what needs to be done
Applying benefit cost analysis where the cost of the project is weighed against the travel time savings of the persons on the bus, appears that the project benefits would exceed project costs even in just one year.

8. Leading the Conversation about the Furure
What will the future look like?
Utopian Scenario
expansion of shared economy,
increased safety
major decrease in VMT
Increase in space available for sidewalks, bike lanes, other amenities
decrease in private ownership (Edison: only the rich will burn candles)
Dystopian Scenario
continuation of single occupancy trips,
new operating efficiencies  facilitating additional urban sprawl,
possible doubling of VMT according to some
What can we do to prepare for this uncertain future?
Explore creative transportation solutions
Expect Change
Likely blurring of the distinction between public transit,
Likely increase in shared ride services
Likely increase in subscription transportation and decrease in private vehicle ownership
Expect an Awkward Transition Period
Collaborate on Development of Regulatory Framework
As TDOT, local governments and transit agencies plan for the future, autonomous/connected vehicles will have a profound impact on how our systems operate. 100 years ago planners and elected officials were celebrating the solution to the most pressing transportation and environmental problem of their day: horse manure on city streets.  If you look at pictures of New York City in 1905 or 1910, you see a street full of horses and carriages.  Ten years later, the street was full of cars, the rules of the road had been defined.  I had the pleasure of sitting in on a meeting with the CEO of FedEx Fred Smith, who commented that the autonomous/connected vehicles will revolutionize our transportation system in a way that is comparable to the invention of the internal combustion engine.  
---Could be utopian-  expansion of shared economy, increased safety, major decrease in VMT, decreased costs for parking, decrease in private ownership (Edison: only the rich will burn candles) ---Could be dystopian - continuation of single occupancy trips, new operating efficiencies  facilitating additional urban sprawl, possible doubling of VMT according to some ---Likely blurring of the distinction between public transit, shared ride services, and private vehicle ownership. It is very unclear what the future will look like!  ---State and local governments need to proactively plan for these dramatic changes and be mindful of the fact that infrastructure needs in the not so distant future may be quite different from needs today. 

9. Critical Need for Transportation Funding
An Unsustainable Situation
No transportation debt – one of only 4 states nationwide with no transportation debt
TN is tied with TX for best infrastructure in the Nation
Spend 3rd lowest per capita in Nation on transportation
No fuel tax increase since 1989
Meanwhile…
Inflation has undermined the value of the dollar to pay for projects
Cars are more fuel efficient
Demands on transportation system, have grown and continue to grow
Insufficient state discretionary dollars for federal match in FY18.
Without additional State funding, in FY ’18, TDOT will have to make hard choices between:
Leaving Federal dollars in Washington due to a lack of State matching dollars
Reducing our level of maintenance and abdicate our “Fix it First” mentality
Cutting State programs like State Industrial Access and/or State Aid
Critical need for transportation funding 
No transportation debt – one of only 4 states nationwide with no transportation debt
Spend 3rd lowest per capita in Nation
TN is tied with TX for best infrastructure in the Nation
This is not a sustainable model
- insufficient state discretionary dollars for federal match in FY18
Without additional State funding, in FY ’18, we will have to make choices between cutting some state funded programs and leaving federal funds on the table due to a lack of state matching dollars.
Leave Federal dollars in Washington due to a lack of State matching dollars
Reduce our level of maintenance and abdicate our “Fix it First” mentality
Cut State programs like State Industrial Access and/or State Aid
Statewide Transit Needs assessment
1) Identify current public transit operations and performance
2) Identify public transit service gaps and needs
3) Identify possible future demand for public transit
4) Create 10 & 20-year public transit service and funding scenarios
Critical need for local dedicated funding for transit projects- Memphis might beat Nashville to the punch on this. 

10. Where State Funding Stands Today

11. Self-Fulfilling Prophesy

12. Liza Joffrion, Director Multimodal transportation resources division
THANK YOU
Liza Joffrion, Director
Multimodal transportation resources division