APTA Seeks Information on Unmet Public Transit Emergency Relief Needs

Congress may consider an Emergency Relief Funding package this fall

This fall, Congress is expected to consider an Emergency Relief Appropriations package to address the widespread damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters. In the past, APTA has successfully advocated for separate Public Transit Emergency Relief funding, which is in addition to annual Federal Transit Administration (FTA) appropriations.

APTA is aware that many public transit agencies have new unmet needs from natural disasters. We urge you to contact your FTA Regional Office and APTA to ensure that all public transit capital and operating costs from natural disasters are considered for any emergency relief package. To date, APTA is aware of more than 20 communities that have submitted estimated costs to their FTA Regional Offices. This information is critical to our ability to successfully advocate for Public Transit Emergency Relief funding.

Over the past decade, natural disasters, including floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes, have directly impacted many public transit agencies. Transit agencies have provided emergency transportation services and sustained significant damage to capital assets. The Public Transportation Emergency Relief program enables FTA to provide financial assistance to public transit agencies and other recipients in the aftermath of a declared emergency or major disaster.

Since 2012, Congress has provided $11.4 billion to 17 States, Washington, DC, and three territories to help public transit agencies respond to and recover from natural disasters. In 2022, APTA focused its advocacy on emergency appropriations for transit agencies’ unmet needs from natural disasters from 2017, and 2020-2022, and as a result, Congress provided $214 million for Public Transportation Emergency Relief to help public transit agencies offset the significant costs of providing emergency transportation services, rebuilding damaged infrastructure, and replacing vehicles destroyed from recent natural disasters, including floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes.

If your public transit agency has unmet needs from a natural disaster, we urge you to reach out to your FTA Regional Office and Katie Corr, Legislative Representative of the APTA Government Affairs and Advocacy team, to make them aware of your specific public transit emergency relief needs.

To be eligible for public transit emergency relief, your State and community must be included in a Presidentially declared major disaster or Governor-declared emergency. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maintains a list of all Presidentially declared major disasters. For additional information on Presidentially declared major disasters for specific States and counties, please view FEMA Disaster Declarations.

For additional information, please view APTA’s Fact Sheet on FTA’s Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program.