As Congress pushes stimulus bill forward, transit agencies continue to plead for financial help
Written by RT&S Staff
New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman and CEO Patrick Foye assembled a coalition of 22 transit agencies from across the country who sent a letter urgently calling on Congress to deliver $39.3 billion in federal relief for mass transit in the next coronavirus relief bill.
The coalition called on congressional leaders to provide needed federal aid to address devastating COVID-related deficits and prevent deep service cuts, thousands of employee layoffs and decimating capital improvement projects as well as the hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs that would be created along with an infusion of capital spending.
Transit agencies across the nation have kept cities and communities moving forward through the depths of the pandemic and will serve as the economic engine crucial to recovery moving millions of Americans to work, school and jobs. The national recovery depends upon a healthy mass transit system, which employs more than 400,000 workers across the country, as well as robust investments in infrastructure to modernize and strengthen systems for the future and create hundreds of thousands of good-paying capital construction jobs in the years ahead.
“Given the unprecedented ridership declines, revenue losses and additional costs caused by the pandemic, a new independent economic analysis shows that $39.3 billion in additional investment is needed to maintain operations today and to get through the years ahead,” the letter stated. “As such, we request $39.3 billion in emergency aid for public transit agencies nationwide in the next coronavirus relief bill. Without additional federal resources, our agencies could be forced to implement drastic cuts to service, make unthinkable layoffs and/or delay or cancel critical capital projects.
“By devoting resources to transit, we can create jobs and strengthen the infrastructure that moves not only people, but our economy.”
On Feb. 5, the Senate passed a budget resolution that paves the way for Congress to approve President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.
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