APTA: Time for transportation policy with new vision

With a new administration and Congress in 2009, APTA said that now is the time to create a visionary transportation policy that will create economic prosperity, promote energy independence and reduce our carbon footprint here in the U.S.

“With the economic crisis at hand and growing unemployment, an economic recovery program that invests in public transportation projects can immediately create green jobs for Americans,” said APTA President William W. Millar. “Not only will this help hundreds of thousands of Americans who need jobs now, but it will also build an expanded transit infrastructure that will help meet the growing public demand for public transportation."

In an APTA survey completed in early December, 216 public transit systems said that they had identified more than 700 transit projects, totaling $12.2 billion, that could be initiated within 90 days of federal funding, to create and support 340,000 jobs in the U.S.

Possible projects include: building new transit facilities, rehabilitating and expanding rail lines, purchasing new energy efficient buses and new railcars. If economic recovery legislation was to cover a two year period, a total of $47.8 billion worth of public transit projects could be funded, yielding over 1.3 million jobs, according to APTA.

Additionally, APTA has sent letters to President-Elect Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, encouraging them to support a significant investment in public transportation in the economic recovery legislation that is scheduled to be voted on in early 2009.

To view the letter to President-Elect Barack Obama, visit www.apta.com