SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Centro would receive a “record” $74 million in federal funding over the next five years in the infrastructure bill that the U.S. Senate recently approved.
The infrastructure bill now goes to the U.S. House of Representatives for its consideration. President Joseph Biden would then have to sign it into law.
In his visit to the Centro office in Syracuse Wednesday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) said the $74 million represents a 34 percent increase over previous five years of funding, which totaled $55 million.
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Schumer added that the package also includes $8 billion in funding for United State Department of Transportation’s Capital Investments Grant (CIG) Program, which could fund local efforts to bring bus rapid transit (BRT) routes to Syracuse.
Schumer helped negotiate the framework of the infrastructure bill, the Democrat’s office noted.
“The record-breaking $74 million for CENTRO in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework is long overdue,” Schumer said. “CENTRO keeps our community connected, the wheels of the regional economy rolling and serves as a vital lifeline for many Central New York residents. By delivering the largest investment in public transit ever, the bipartisan infrastructure deal will keep CENTRO moving and pave the way for expanded service.”
Funding breakdown, future possibilities
Schumer said the $74 million over five years for CENTRO will come from the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) “Urbanized Area Formula Grants” and “Buses and Bus Facilities Formula Program,” which help fund operations and capital improvements.
The 34 percent increase represents the largest amount of funding CENTRO has ever received from the FTA’s formula grants.
Schumer said this funding, coupled with the $38.4 million he secured for CENTRO in the American Rescue Plan, will help secure finances as it recovers from the pandemic and opens opportunities for new, improved services in the future.
Schumer said CENTRO will also be eligible to apply for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program, for which the bipartisan infrastructure bill would appropriate an additional $8 billion. CIG pays for transit capital investments, including bus rapid transit (BRT), specifically through the “Small Starts” program.
The funding that Schumer announced could boost local efforts to bring BRT routes to Syracuse, a move local officials say could help more than 9,300 people get to work every day.
The additional BRT lines would cut down on route times, increase the number of active buses, and add service hours to the workweek.
Additionally, the BRT lines would be as much as 30 percent faster than similar traditional CENTRO routes. That’s according to a multi-year study from the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council that Schumer’s office cited in the news release.
Officials say this could increase access to jobs in the city and help reduce poverty in Syracuse, “a city that has the 9th worst poverty rate in the U.S. and [one in which] 1 in 4 households do not have a car,” per Schumer’s office.
