APTA, industry leaders urge Congress to provide $23.8B for transit agencies

APTA has urged Congress and the Administration to provide $23.8 billion in additional emergency funding to offset the extraordinary direct costs and revenue losses caused by the COVID-19 crisis. This funding would allow transit agencies across the country to continue to provide essential services and support the economic recovery of our communities and the nation.

“It is imperative that agencies receive federal support so that they can survive and help our nation recover from the economic fallout of the pandemic,” said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. “Without significant additional emergency funding, we will not be able to serve our essential riders, as well as help our communities recover both economically and socially.”

“As an industry, we are preparing for a safer, brighter, and more dynamic future,” said Nuria I. Fernandez, APTA Chair, and General Manager and CEO of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. “Recovery will be a dynamic process. But I am confident that if our industry has the resources it needs, we will recover and become even more essential to America’s mobility network.”

Skoutelas and Fernandez were joined on the call by several transit industry leaders, who offered their perspectives on the pandemic’s effect on the industry as well as the need for immediate emergency funding.

“It’s difficult to predict how or when our communities will recover from this particular crisis. With no clear end point in sight, we have to prepare for what the ‘new normal’ may be,” added Jeff Nelson, APTA Vice Chair and GM of the Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District. “Transit is a resilient industry and I am confident we can take on that challenge. This pandemic has changed how people perceive their world, and we will adapt and find new ways to provide a critical public transit service to our community.”