Commends enhancements in worker & rider safety, but grave concerns about flat funding levels
Washington, DC – Praising the improvements in transit worker and passenger safety, but expressing grave concerns about flat funding for public transportation, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) called on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to vote to move the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (H.R. 3763) forward.
“The ATU commends the House Transportation Committee for its bipartisan approach in developing a transportation bill that enhances transit worker and passenger safety and makes real progress toward fostering transit workforce development,” wrote ATU International President Larry Hanley in a letter to Committee members. “We urge you to vote in favor of moving the bill forward.”
ATU pointed out that unlike the Senate’s DRIVE Act, the House bill strikes the right balance between public and private service delivery in transit.
Pointing to the more than $78 billion repair backlog at transit systems nationwide and the massive cuts in capital bus funding, the Union expressed grave concerns about the flat funding levels in the bill and urged the Ways and Means Committee to raise the necessary revenues to meet increased demand in the public transportation sector.
“Real safety issues exist, as transit systems struggle to preserve their existing fleets through the use of old parts and creative maintenance departments,” the letter continued. “While transit is still an incredibly safe industry, it is only a matter of time until serious accidents occur due to the aging of the fleets.”
Many transit systems have been forced to shift some of their scarce local operating funds to the capital side. This is leaving a gaping hole in operating budgets causing more service cuts across the country.
“While the bill does close the gap,” Hanley said. “We have grave concerns about flat funding and we can’t understand our government’s 'sky is the limit' approach to war spending while neglecting Americans and our infrastructure and transit needs."