Latest Federal Stimulus Package Provides $50 Million for NFTA

Jan. 6—The federal government's new $900 billion stimulus package will help keep Metro buses and trains rolling and sustain operations at the area's two airports — at least for now.

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority will receive $50 million from the program authorized by Congress and signed by President Trump last month, which coincides exactly with the amount needed to counter massive drop-offs in transit and airport customers stemming from Covid-19 concerns.

"It allows us to continue to operate amid all the challenges we have," said NFTA spokeswoman Helen Tederous, adding that the new money should fuel authority operations for about three months once it arrives in March.

The anticipated infusion of funds provides $43 million for transit assistance and $7 million for Buffalo and Niagara Falls airports at a time when passenger totals at Buffalo Niagara International Airport have dropped by about 80%, bus travel is down 50%, and rail traffic is down 30-40% depending on the day. It follows another federal assistance payment of $84.8 million received last April soon after the pandemic closed schools, colleges and businesses that rely on mass transit.

Tederous said that relief arrived in June and sustained authority operations for seven months at a time when mass transit and airports were deemed essential (especially for frontline workers relying on buses and trains), and also when fares were not being collected in order to minimize contact between passengers and transit workers.

When the NFTA preliminarily adopted at $216.7 million budget for 2021-22 in November, Executive Director Kimberley A. Minkel said the absence of any new federal aid would leave the authority in a "devastating position," though she did not specify the extent of possible layoffs or service reductions.

"Without this assistance, it will have a significant impact on our airports, Metro operations and the many people who desperately rely on the services we provide," Minkel said then. "Additionally, it would have an enormous economic impact on our region."

The executive director also noted then that the authority has initiated a number of steps to control costs, including a hiring freeze, and will not rely on airport revenues to balance the books of Metro Bus and Rail. She envisioned an annual savings of $16 million by next year.

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