Rail Runner Finds New Federal Funding

Rio Metro isn't asking for additional state funding this year

After raising admission fees and cutting back services last year to plug an anticipated $3 million hole, the Rail Runner is now projecting a small surplus, albeit a cautious one.

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"I don't want to call it a surplus," Tony Doyle, transportation director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments, which oversees Rail Runner operations, tells SFR. "It's not like there aren't any needs."

In the fall, MRCOG's Rio Metro Board voted to raise rates and cut services such as certain Saturday winter season routes. Now the Federal Transit Administration is increasing public transportation funding to the Albuquerque area, which can go directly to the Rail Runner.

The goal is for Rail Runner, which isn't asking for additional state funding this year, to potentially eliminate state funding for day-to-day operations, Doyle says.

Each year, Albuquerque receives about $8 million a year in FTA funding for public transportation. Because the city now has the Rail Runner, that funding jumped up roughly $5 million extra annually.

"The more trains we run, the more funds we're eligible for," Doyle who presented the findings at a House Transportation Committee in the Roundhouse today, says. "So it's kind of a catch-22."

Doyle says the $3 million projected deficit, which was increased from an initial projection of $1.2 million, forced MRCOG to cut Rail Runner services down to "the bare bones." Now the Rio Metro Board can look into restoring some of those cuts.

"I'm not going to say we're going to bring [services] back to what they once were, but everything's on the table now," Doyle says.

Gov. Susana Martinez has made Rail Runner self-sustainability a goal since her 2010 campaign. But not everything's smooth sailing from here on out. The commuter train, which was financed with high-interest state bonds, runs about $28 million in debt service every year, which is more than it costs to run the train annually.

Half of the train's yearly finances come from gross receipt taxes in the four counties it runs through. Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, introduced legislation this session to tax residents in those counties even more and shift the burden off of residents who don't live in the area served by Rail Runner. Muñoz's attempt failed in committee.

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