APTA Supports Majority Report of Commission and Rejects Minority View that Fails to Continue Federal Investment in Public Transportation

The report released today by a bipartisan majority of the commissioners calls for a comprehensive and bold approach to moving America forward. In calling for an expanded role for public transportation, the majority report addresses the need to provide Americans with transportation choices and offers solutions to alleviate traffic congestion, reduce our dependence on expensive foreign oil and minimize transportation�s impact on climate change.

The majority report calls for more transportation investment decisions to be made in full partnership with local, state, federal governments and the private sector. It also reinforces the important role the federal government historically has had, and should have, in funding public transportation. To put it simply, funding public transportation helps communities function better and the nation meet national goals.

We, the public transportation industry, are outraged that the minority report would propose to turn back the hands of time to an era more than 40 years ago when public transportation received no federal funding. This was a time when ridership fell dramatically and communities were losing the public transit service its citizens have come to rely on. Since the establishment of the Federal program in 1964, public transportation is available in more communities, ridership has increased dramatically and new systems have flourished. At a time when traffic congestion, climate change and energy independence are so much a part of the national discussion, how could we consider such a backward move?

We congratulate the majority members of the National Surface Transportation Commission for taking on its assignment and making the tough decisions to invest in the mobility of our citizens, to maintain global competitiveness of our economy and protect our quality of life. Now is the time to move forward to work with Congress and use this report as a guide as we face tough choices and dwindling resources in the Highway Trust Fund and Mass Transit Account.

(Click here to read Transportation for Tomorrow: Report of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission.)