Rio Metro
Assumes Role to Operate and Manage the
New Mexico Rail Runner Express
Regional Transportation Gross Receipts Tax
Passed in November Goes into Effect July 1st
(Albuquerque,
NM
– April 28, 2009) – The Board of Directors of Rio Metro
last week voted to assume operational control of the New Mexico Rail
Runner Express on behalf of the New Mexico Department of
Transportation. �Last
November, voters in Bernalillo, Sandoval and
Valencia
counties supported the “Rio Metro Transit Initiative” - a gross
receipts tax to fund existing Rail Runner service and new transit
connections between the train stations, neighborhoods, and
employers. One-half of the generated revenue operating funds for the
Rail Runner after the current federal funding expires June 30th;
the remaining 50% will fund bus and shuttle operations serving
neighborhoods in the City of
Albuquerque
and other cities in the region as well as the region’s rural areas.
“This transit
Initiative anticipates the changing transportation needs of the
region”, says Lawrence Rael,
Executive Director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments. “By
2015, the three-county area will have a population of more than one
million residents, and when you combine that with the
Santa Fe and northern
New Mexico market, you’re looking at 1.3
million people. So this is an opportune time for the Rio Metro Board
to be assuming control of Rail Runner operations from a regional
perspective”.
“The member organizations
formed Rio Metro so that a regional transit system could be planned,
funded and operated”, said Wayne Ake, mayor of Bosque Farms and
chair of the Rio Metro board. “We now have a plan and approved
funding. Assuming responsibility for the Rail Runner adds to the
Board’s ability to coordinate and budget for an integrated, regional
transit system.”
Additionally, the Board
also approved two other measures that relate directly to the passage
of the transit initiative, and will go into effect this July 1st:
-
Rio Metro approved an “Intergovernmental
Agreement” with the North Central Regional Transit District
(NCRTD) whereby the NCRTD will help fund Rail Runner operations
by providing one-half of the revenue generated in Santa F�
County from the recently approved 1/8 of one-percent regional
transit gross receipts tax.
-
The Rio Metro Board
voted to establish a
Rail Services Advisory
Committee, which includes seven representatives from
Rail Runner funding partners. The function of the committee will
be to provide advice to the Rio Metro Board of Directors on
issues such as the development of policies and procedures. The
Rio Metro Board will maintain final decision-making oversight.
Contacts:�
Show all News and Events
