Centro funding, originally in question, restored by U.S. Congress

United States Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) announced Tuesday that the final transportation bill for New York state will be fully restored, avoiding potential cuts to the Centro bus service.

Included in the final transportation bill is funding to the 5340 High Density States Program, which, if eliminated, would have cost New York state transit agencies roughly $100 million per year and the Central New York Regional Transportation Authority (Centro) nearly $2 million per year for six years, according to a press release from Schumer’s office.

As a result of Schumer and Katko restoring the bill through an agreement with the joint House and Senate Transportation Conference Committee, Centro will no longer risk these costs, and the program will receive an increase of about $18.5 million over the next five years, according to the release. Schumer and Katko are both transportation bill conferees.

“This is great news for Upstate New York and a major victory for Central New York in particular — because it means we have protected the critical $12 million in transportation funding Centro was set to receive over the next six years,” Schumer said in the release.

Schumer added in the release that with this funding, Centro will be able to continue operating its bus service across four counties.

Centro covers Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga and Oswego counties. In 2014, Centro provided more than 11 million rides to residents and visitors in CNY, according to the release.

Centro received $2,043,375 in federal funding under the 5340 program in 2014, according to the release. In addition, Centro employs about 630 people in the four-county area and contributes about $30 million to the local economy.

It was unclear exactly how the potential cuts would have affected Syracuse University, which has a partnership with Centro. SU officials said Centro bus services for the SU community wouldn’t be affected, but Centro officials said the cuts would means less services across the board.

Schumer and Katko said in the release that if Centro had not received the anticipated funding of $2 million for 2016, both this service and local jobs could have been threatened.

The funding from the 5340 program is also important to other transit agencies across the state, including the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority and the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority, according to the release.

The final transportation bill will be voted on later this week, according to the release.