A move is underway to secure additional federal funding for public transit and high-speed rail projects in the big $3.5 trillion spending bill currently under review in Congress.
Members of the American Public Transportation Association, along with more than forty other industry groups, have sent a letter to the leadership of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, as well as the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee asking for a minimum of $10 billion for a variety of transit projects.
Such funding, the communication asserts, will enable industry leaders to “tackle climate change, advance equity, and meet the growing and evolving mobility demands of our communities.”
The letter adds that increased funding for transit and high-speed rail will prove environmentally valuable, helping to “transform our nation’s transportation network for a sustainable future.”
The House earlier approved the framework for the reconciliation bill, which is designed to expand social safety net programs, on a close 220 to 212 vote.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she is committed to allowing for a House vote on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, otherwise known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which passed the Senate last month, before taking up the $3.5 billion budget legislation in late September.
By Garry Boulard