Many U.S. voters support emergency funding for the public transit industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent FirstView Presidential Election Post-Election survey directed by Heart+Mind Strategies.

The survey, conducted for the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), found that 77% of American voters want to see emergency funding for public transportation, and 74% approve of the new Administration and Congress taking action to fix the public transportation infrastructure crisis facing the nation.

“These survey results clearly show that Americans not only want actions now to save public transit during the pandemic, but they want continued long-term actions that preserve and expand public transit services. APTA implores Congress and the Administration to come together to provide emergency funding for public transportation as quickly as possible,” said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. “The crisis becomes more severe each day that Congress delays.”

Without at least $32 billion in additional emergency funding, many public transit agencies will soon be forced to make severe route and labor cuts, leaving communities without service and jobs during the pandemic. APTA’s surveys show that six in 10 public transit systems will need to reduce service and furlough employees in the coming months without emergency federal funding from Congress. In addition, more than eight in 10 businesses have seen a reduction in their transit industry business as a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and nearly one-third of transit industry businesses are concerned that they may go out of business if additional federal funding is not provided.

Voters from across the nation continue to voice strong support for public transit even during this pandemic: 71% of respondents said public transportation keeps our communities working and is essential to keeping our society functioning.

The Heart+Mind Strategies FirstView Presidential Election Post-Election online survey was conducted on Election Day and consisted of a total of 2,005 interviews with a nationally representative sample of individuals from across the U.S.