How the FTA Supports Transit Across the U.S. with Acting FTA Administrator Veronica Vanterpool

Veronica Vanterpool is the Acting Administrator of the U. S. Federal Transit Administration, and we talked to her on today's episode of the Transit Unplugged podcast. I'm Paul Comfort, and I thought it was important for us to kind of have a wrap up of the last four years of the Biden Administration before we head into the Trump Administration.

Talk about what the FTA has been doing and Veronica tells us about their new programs they've been running such as the Low and No Emission Program, the Rail Vehicle Replacements, the All Stations Accessibilities, the Ferry Program, the Tribal Transit. We dive into all of it in detail and actually, Veronica explains how the FTA works and the role of the regional administrators and how they operate in this system here in the United States.

Plus we take a look at what we think the future of public transportation will hold. All that on this episode of Transit Unplugged with Veronica Vanderpool, the Acting Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. Enjoy.

Great to have with us on the program today, my friend, Veronica Vanterpool, who is Acting Administrator of the U. S. Federal Transit Administration. Veronica, thanks for being on the show. Well, thank you for having me.

Yeah, so I thought, you know, we ought to have you on to talk about the last four years of what's been going on in public transportation. I mean, it's been some of the most challenging years coming out of the pandemic, but also some of the most eventful years with all the money coming from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the movements.

And it seems like every week, Veronica, you've been in a different city, you know, cutting a ribbon or giving a big check and your predecessor, the same thing. It's been a lot going on, hasn't there? There sure has been a lot to be proud of, a lot that we're glad to be touting and noting its progress so much over the past four years. We're leaving quite a legacy behind.

As you and I are recording this, which will be one week from when we air it it's the Monday when we've got a big snowstorm coming, the first big snow we've had in years, and there's hundreds, if not thousands, of people joining you in Washington, D.C. For the TRB conference and all the receptions that are going to go on.

And we were going to do this in person in your office, which I appreciate the invite, but with all the snow coming this morning, I'm, like, locked in here at my house, but public transportation, the reason I bring that up is because public transportation really plays a key, essential role in communities, especially in times of crisis or storms, natural disasters, those kind of things, right? And we've seen it do that over the last four years of your term. That is exactly right.

In fact, we've seen some unprecedented events. So I've lived in DC now just about three and a half years. This is the first major snowfall that I've seen. And as you noted, this is a very big week in DC because of the TRB conference and activities and events are still ongoing. And I have no problem getting to my venue later because I'll be using WMATA's metro system. Right.

And while federal offices are closed in the city and schools are closed and many businesses are closed, TRB is able to continue on because we have a functioning, strong, and well funded and invested transit network in the metro system operated by WMATA. So, I expect to have no problems getting in, but transit continues to serve as that lifeline.

So, so many individuals who have to rely on a personal vehicle, you know, may not have that option of a transit system in their community, but those of us that do have that privilege and that option and that proximity, we're very fortunate to be able to say, I'm going to walk to my nearest metro station and hop on, you know, the next train.

And it has actually allowed me, as the senior most official or the most official senior transit person in the country to not own a vehicle because I live in a community where I can take transit, I can walk, I can bike and when and if needed, I can use a rideshare vehicle. So I have a lot of options, but I recognize communities across the United States don't always have those options, and that's really what the Federal Transit Administration tries to do. Yeah, let's talk about that.

Yes, our mission is to improve America's communities through public transportation. So, We are a very unique structure in this country. Many countries do not have a federalized agency that is supporting public transportation in the ways that we do across 50 different states, different territories, across different geographies and certainly many different constituencies and abilities and modes of public transit. We use taxpayer dollars, federal funds, to support over 3, 500 recipients.

So that is mostly transit agencies or state departments of transportation or metropolitan planning organizations. So we do not support non profits generally. There's some programs within FTA that do support those entities, but by and large, most of our funding goes to those three agencies groups of recipients. And we work with them to make sure that they are delivering their projects on time. So we also have sort of, our grant funding buckets are competitive, but they're also through formula.

So formulas are set by Congress and they're based on population and vehicle miles traveled and communities throughout the United States receive those funds automatically. But on the grant program side those different entities compete for very limited dollars and very competitive programs for funding to support let's say a new rail extension, or a new bus rapid transit route, or to plan for transit oriented development.

So we are really changing mobility throughout the United States by the way that we direct our federal funds. That's something.

You know, in a lot of countries, the federal government might be involved only in capital dollars coming to, for instance, Canada was until the pandemic where they only gave capital dollars but it's different in the U. S. in that there are operating dollars coming to, to support that. That's very interesting. There are operating dollars to support communities throughout the United States, but not in some of the larger cities. So operating support.

Does not go to cities with a population of 200, 000 or more. So that would cover many of our major metropolises. Of course, the New York Cities and the Philadelphias and the Chicagos and the Los Angeles. But what's notable is that many of these communities are looking at ways to support the operating side, and operating is incredibly important. It is really the day to day.

It supports salaries, it supports maintenance, it supports fuel it supports you know, a number of the expenses associated with getting vehicles out on the road to move, you know, millions of people every single day. But we do support a good amount of communities that are smaller than 200, 000 with operating assistance. Yes. You know, I remember I used to get some money and I, I appreciated it.

And, you know, I'm glad that, that you note that Paul, because these are the communities that are really providing bus workhorse for many of these rural communities or tribal communities where, you know, we are able to ensure that there is some sustenance into the day to day operations of these smaller systems across the United States. Yeah. And, you know, state of good repair and the capital investments that we have seen a lot of money come out over the last four years to help us with.

I mean, that's really what what's going on in New York City right now. I don't know if you want to comment on it, but this is a very interesting week as well, because it's the first week for congestion charging to come to the U. S. Of course, they have it in London. I've seen it there in operation. I've been to Singapore and seen it in operation there and heard from Jeremy Yap and how it invests, that investment in their system is so key and important.

And in big cities, like you mentioned, that don't get it. Operating dollars, they still have even bigger needs for capital investments. And that's where all the money, right, from the congestion charging is supposed to go in New York City. Indeed. In fact New York City is my home. I was born and raised and, in fact, have lived most of my life in New York.

I actually moved from New York in 2020, so not that long ago and, and I have a special relationship with public transportation, not just as a user of the system all of my life having grown up in The Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New York City, but having been an advocate for public transportation since 2007, and funny enough, I was an advocate for congestion pricing. That's how I started my career. Is that right?

In public transportation at the time Mayor Bloomberg was in office and he had proposed a sweeping environmental blueprint plan NYC. And congestion pricing was just one of 127 initiatives proposed at the time. So I have been working as many advocates have since that time and even before 2007 when it was first introduced or, you know, some would even say reintroduced because it's a concept that had been debated in New York City and the region for decades.

But yes, a pivotal moment for New York City as it launched this congestion pricing program just yesterday, and I served on the board of New York's MTA, which is the largest transportation network in this country, for just about four years, so I'm, and also gave the deciding vote to launch congestion pricing when I was really, I didn't know that.

Wow. So, A very interesting and exciting moment for those of us to strongly believe in raising dedicated funds for public transportation and looking at ways of improving road safety and reducing congestion and improving environmental quality. So for many of us who believe in you know, that program, it's certainly. It's nice to see it take off, but to your point, Paul, transit systems do need dedicated support for the capital programs of public transportation.

That is what really helps provide more service to more people in cities across America through the expansion of existing transit or the launch of new transit projects.

And you need capital dollars and New York, as many states in this country, Washington State recently passed some legislation to invest significantly in public transportation, but New York State, Washington State many others have really committed to funding public transportation on the capital side and it does need a combination of federal support, state support, and local support. Yeah, I do want to comment on that. I think you know, but for five years, I worked in Washington, D.C.

As a contractor with MV Transportation running the paratransit system, the ADA paratransit, and it was you know, one of the highlights of my career, and I was so happy that, you know, you guys have funded it.

Almost a hundred stations across America to upgrade them, making them accessible for the very first time for people with disabilities. These were stations that were built before the ADA was passed in 1990. But I want to thank you because I'm a passionate advocate for the needs of people with disabilities and the elderly. I feel like they're the ones that really need our services the most, and so we need to give them the most. You know, we need to reach out to them further.

There may be other folks who say, here, we're going to make sure that you definitely can use this because without it, you could be stuck. You know, you could be like, you know, it's like a lot of people are today. Like I am right now, not able to get out of my house. So, but with that investment that has made, you know, probably hundreds of thousands of more people able to use public transportation. Absolutely, and I appreciate you noting accessibility.

That has been a priority and a goal of this administration, but frankly, it should be a priority and a goal of every administration, of every federal transit program, because what it does, it strengthens our economies to make sure All members of our communities can be active members of their their society. They can participate in church activities and school activities and connect with each other, and especially connecting with everything that matters.

And through our All Stations Accessibility Program, the one that you largely referenced, We have been able to update nearly 100 stations across the country. Many of them are still in development in progress, but putting these funds, particularly towards some of these stations and communities that have the oldest rail and train infrastructure, makes a big difference.

You know, this, this means that someone who may be mobility impaired doesn't have to skip three station stops in order to get to work or to connect to their doctor appointment. It may mean that they can walk to the station stop in their neighborhood and get on a train there. That's right. This is a time savings, but it's also important again to making sure that people have access to opportunities, that they can work at their local library if they chose.

And while this is particularly important for those who are older, those living with disabilities, it's important for people who've just broken their foot and are in crutches for the day. Or a parent who is pushing a stroller and wants to take, you know, their child to the zoo and does not want to drive, right? So, this, these deliver benefits for so many individuals beyond those who are most reliant on public transportation, and we're really proud of that.

Let's talk for a minute about, if you would, about the low and no emission grants. That's been another key initiative of the Biden administration and DOT and FTA. I mean, five billion dollars. Come on now. That's a significant investment, Paul. And it's really an investment in reducing pollution in communities across America, in every size community, whether you're a small rural community, to one of the biggest cities across the United States and reducing pollution is everyone's goal.

No one wants to be in a community or live in a community or work in a community where air quality is bad. And you certainly don't want to be a user of a city. So we have a system um, where you have outdated vehicles, right? Our personal vehicles have been upgraded with the latest and cleanest technology. We've seen cars get cleaner over generations. And we are now investing in buses and other transit modes to get cleaner in the same way with new technology.

So we've spent a lot of money, 5 billion, and on buses and in buses to upgrade to the newest cleanest technology. In doing so we're supporting an American base of manufacturing buses domestically producing in the United States. So in this administration we would have had nearly 6, 000 buses either operating on the on the ground ordered or manufactured. It's almost 6, 000 in that those three buckets. From our 5 billion investment.

And, you know, what that means is we are making it easier for communities to achieve so many goals and again, making sure that our communities remain healthy communities for everyone. So very, very proud of that investment, very proud to support domestic manufacturing in this country. American made buses is a very big deal but then again, really proud to be reducing pollution in the ways that we have been. One last specific program I want to call out because it means a lot to me.

I started my career in rural, right here in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, in rural America, running a small bus system, but another one that doesn't get a lot of attention is tribal transit. My good friend Kendra Sue McGady Scott Bogen, of CTAA, all them, you know the. This is their passion.

Obviously, Kendra works there Pelavan Transit and you all have increased funding by 31 percent to help tribal transit, and this is an area, again, where without this service people could be stuck and not be able to have any mobility, and we know that mobility equals life, so you've got to have mobility to really live a full life and to enjoy all that life has to offer, and, and you've helped make that happen.

Thank you, Veronica. Thank you, Paul. And, you know, I want to note quite a few things on this. So, Scott and Kendra, I know well. They are wonderful, wonderful advocates for rural and tribal communities. We're so glad to have had their partnership in so many of our initiatives and glad to see them advance so much of their work. We have really put a great deal of emphasis on making it easier for tribal communities to successfully compete for this money.

So one way we've done that is we've actually eliminated the local match for tribal communities because typically when the federal government invests and FTA invests, we do an 80 20 split and we expect local communities to to contribute 20 percent of the project cost. We want to know that there is local support for our federal investment, but for tribal communities that can be more challenging for them to generate that local match.

So we very successfully in this administration waived that local match for tribal communities. So what that means is they're able to keep the federal dollars without the pressure of having to meet that match. We've also made it so much easier to apply for these funds. So we have reformatted the tribal application so it is so much simpler. We've reduced the word count. We've taken out the jargon.

We have made it an easier fillable PDF and that's important because what we've learned in many tribal communities is. They're all different sizes with all different sorts of resources. Some of the bigger tribes have resources for grant writing. Some of the smaller sometimes they close because of salmon fishing season. And they need to get to that point. So they are not working and competing for federal grants during that time.

So, you know, we, we recognize that we want to get this money into these tribal communities. I've had the privilege and the benefit in my role to travel across the United States. And I was able to visit Coeur d'Alene in Idaho and a transit service that's provided by a tribe there and the connection of that service to the local reservations, right?

Without this service that is supported by Federal Transit Administration, there would not be a bus to bring members of the community to very needed employment in the reservations and elsewhere. Without that bus, They would have to find an alternative means that would be more costly because it would largely depend on, you know, a private vehicle or sharing a vehicle, etc. We're really proud of that. We're proud of making those connections, particularly in our tribal and rural communities.

We could talk about so many more of the things that have been done, but let's dive into a little bit about your background and maybe a little bit more, if you don't mind, about the structure of the FTA and how it works, what the role of the administrator is, what are these regional administrators? I know people in Australia may not understand that, but we've got the country broken into regions. Can you walk through that some a little bit and then let's go into your background?

What do you do day to day as the administrator? Let's start with that. What's your role? My day to day is working with a really talented team across the United States of 700 plus FTA employees. We have a dedicated team of individuals who come from all sorts of backgrounds, legal, planning, Advocacy, non profit, financial, who all share in the same mission, and that's really, again, to improve America's communities through public transportation. So, we are headquartered in Washington D.C.

In the Department of Transportation headquartered building, and within the Department of Transportation, I'll start very high level. There's nine different agencies, if you will. Federal Transit is one of those nine Federal Aviation is another of those nine, Federal Rail, et cetera, and we, we partner across many initiatives.

There's obviously a lot of intersectional work amongst all of the nine, but FTA is broken into 10 regional offices across the United States, and each of those regional offices handles many states. And each office is based in a hub. So, we have hubs, for example, in Denver, Colorado, or Los Angeles, California Washington, D.C., as I noted, Chicago, Illinois. And our regional administrators lead a team. And the team varies in size you know, anywhere from, you know, 20 to 60 members of the team.

And what that regional team led by the regional administrator does is they guide our federal investment in that region across those states that they're responsible for. So they're really working closely with those recipients of federal transit administration funds.

So again, those Transit agencies, those state departments of transportation, those metropolitan planning organizations, and they're working with them to make sure that they are meeting all the federal requirements, such as our environmental regulations under NEPA, our National Environmental Policy Act. They're making sure that they're meeting civil rights obligations. They're making sure they're meeting the legal requirements of the grants. But they're also doing some hand holding.

answering very technical questions from the project sponsors. So our teams are comprised of experts who are engineers, who are experts in project management and oversight, who are experts in legal work, who are working with Transit Agency X to fulfill the requirements of the grant. To deliver the best project for the community and to answer questions that make them competitive for the next grants that they're applying for. You'll remember that I said we give out money in two buckets.

Automatic formula funding and then The competitive funding, and many of these transit recipients want to continue to compete successfully for the next, you know, competitive grant cycles, and our team in the regions know them intimately and work closely with them. In many ways, they're their advocates. Our regional administrator and teams, they want to see these projects done well, and I think that's something that's incredibly important.

Many people see federal government as bureaucratic and sometimes oppositional, but our team is really the best advocate for transit projects in their region. They want to see those projects delivered well because we've made an investment and we like to see a good ROI on our investment and we like to see successful projects. That's good. I think one other note to make is that they're not politically appointed, right? They're, they are, what do you call that? Civil service, right?

Yes. They're civil servants. They're career employees and many of them bring decades and many of them are new to the work. But yes, they are there politically. over many, many years, so they've acquired a good deal of expertise, but local regional knowledge that we in headquarters don't have.

So many times I am out on the road, people will come over to me and say, I have this very specific question, or I am not sure how to do X, and my first question to them is, well, have you met and or engaged with your regional administrator? Because they're the first place you should start and we in headquarters are not making decisions without engaging with our regional team. They're the experts in the region.

Like one you recently hired, Kerry Butler in Region 7, an expert who's been CEO of a number of agencies. When I visit these transit association conferences across the country where I speak, there almost always is a regional administrator there as one of the main speakers explaining all the latest down into the nitty gritty details about how to apply for grants, what's available.

It's one of the most popular sessions of every state transit association conference is when the Regional Administrator talks because they're explaining to them, you know, how to access and tap into those federal resources. That's right.

And when we're selecting these regional administrators, and I've been involved in a number of interviews over these four years, we're selecting the very best individuals who know public transit well and come with stellar credentials, because we expect them to make decisions that reflect my decision or the administrator's decision during any given, you know, tenure. Yes. And they have to reflect.

So, to reflect what overall FTA and what's coming from headquarters, they need to reflect and execute that at the regional level. So, we have the most exceptional leaders and I want to note that most of our leaders in the headquarters across the region are women. In fact FTA, a stat I'm very proud of more than 50 percent of our total workforce is women. That's really reflected in our leadership roles.

Yeah. So, another thing, talking about a background experience, if you've got a few more minutes, let's talk about your background. So, I love the fact that you worked, you know, in transit not only the, what you've talked about in New York City, but I think I first became aware of you when you were working with my friend John Sisson in Delaware. You know, right next to where I'm at, I've, I've been very involved with Delaware Transit for many years, and being enrolled in Maryland and all.

So, tell us something about your background, how you ended up first becoming the deputy and now acting. Well, you know, a very interesting path. My background is in environmental It always is, isn't it? Always. In transit, man. Our careers are wild.

Well, I, my background is in environmental science and policy, and of course, we know the intersection there, but that's what I went to school for, and my early jobs were in environmental policy, but I, as I mentioned earlier, I'm a born and bred New Yorker, born and raised in The Bronx. I love saying that. I took three buses each way to high school and that was important for me. I, I knew the importance of public transportation because I relied on it.

So that was very critical and crucial to the formation of my appreciation for public transportation. I, as I noted earlier, I actually transitioned into transportation in 2007 for a small non profit headquartered in Manhattan. And I started working on sustainable transportation broadly in the New York Metro Region. So that was all of New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut. And we looked at, of course, public transportation, but how to reduce deaths on our roadway.

From, you know, vehicular collisions. How to invest sustainably in roads and bridges and fix it first. As opposed to, you know, expanding this infrastructure without investing in the existing infrastructure.

So, I really developed a strong appreciation for the whole of the transportation network and providing a lot of different options for people to move around and why that so important important from, of course, tapping into my background in environmental science, right, important from issues of equity and accessibility, making sure everyone contributes in their communities and has ways of doing that but making sure that our economies were sound the economy of

New York City, the economy of Chicago, of Philadelphia, of so many cities across the United States, and small ones as well. is dependent and or intertwined with public transportation when you make those investments, they matter. So I have always sought out work in public transportation. I did go from New York into Delaware. I served as its first Chief Innovation Officer at the Delaware Transit Corporation.

And that was important because it gave me insight into launching a new transit service in a rural community that was agricultural that had a lot of migrant workers and why that was important.

And then from there I moved into the role at FTA, but I come from the side of community engagements, public advocacy institutional coalition building, public policy campaigns, and working with every stakeholder, whether you're a community resident, or you're a governor, or you are a member of the federal delegation, my role was to engage with everyone. On these topics that are so important about mobility.

And then here I am now at FTA in an acting administrator role because my predecessor Administrator Nuria Fernandez retired after an illustrious 40 years plus in the transit industry. And I stepped up given that I was deputy to serve as acting throughout the remainder of this administration. It's wonderful. Well, thank you for spending some time with us today.

Summary of what you feel like, you know, you've done so far, or look ahead into what you think is coming next. I want to note that in this administration, we've invested the most ever in public transportation. 15. 5 billion dollars. This has been an unprecedented time with unprecedented vision, unprecedented commitment, Unprecedented execution to so many shared goals across this country, strengthening communities, strengthening economies, providing opportunities for people.

And that's what public transportation really does. So I am really proud to now lead a team that has been led by strong leaders before at this moment with the biggest investment in public transportation, thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Candidly, but 15. 5 billion over four years invested to improve America's communities through public transit. I'm really proud of what we've accomplished, but I'm proud of the stories that I hear. I've traveled a lot. I've talked to a lot of people.

I've ridden on buses with bus riders and asked them, what do you like about your commute? What don't you like about your commute? And that comes from my advocacy side as well, that connecting to people. But I hear you. The benefits of our investment from the people who use the systems themselves, and it is work that I'm really, really proud of. It is work that's in my blood. I am very proud of our team who's worked really hard to deliver four new programs and get so much more money out the door.

We've made changes in this country and we expect those changes to continue to be made moving forward. That's wonderful. Well, Veronica, thank you for the role you've played over the last many years at FTA and before that, and I'm sure whatever the next chapter in your career holds, you'll continue to be a passionate advocate for public transportation.

Thank you, Paul, and thank you for all of your work to highlight success stories of this industry, but for connecting so many people across the globe to make sure that we're connecting people to what matters through public transportation. Oh, thank you very much. Take care and have a good rest of your uh, TRB conference there in DC. Stay safe. Stay Thank you, Paul.

Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Transit Unplugged with our special guest, Acting Administrator of the FTA, Veronica Vanterpool. Hi, I'm Tris Hussey, editor of the podcast, and coming up next week, we actually continue this conversation about serving others, and the role of transit in society with the CEO of UZURV Ned Freeman. Ned shares his passion for UZURV and the job it does, connecting people with public transit regardless of their abilities.

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