Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) was selected by the House Republican Conference to be the next Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (T&I) on Tuesday. He succeeds Rep. John L. Mica (R-FL).

Peter Pantuso told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that motorcoach transportation in the U.S. continues strong growth and remains exceptionally competitive against other modes of transportation, especially considering that Amtrak remains heavily subsidized by the federal government.

The legislation maintains funding at current levels, reforms the nation's transportation programs to make them more efficient and provides robust assistance for transportation projects under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program to leverage state, local and private-sector funding, according to the EPW.

Six-year transportation reauthorization bill proposal calls for spending $230 billion. Proposed spending level would cause cuts in funding to states for road and bridge programs, prompting massive job losses and further deterioration of infrastructure, critics warn.

The proposal would provide funding for "ready-to-go" projects, including: $12.5 billion for public transportation, $3.4 billion for high-speed and intercity rail and $1.5 billion for Amtrak.