public transit budget cuts looming with major congressional battle

More than two dozen transportation, engineering, and construction industry groups have come out in opposition to a move to reduce national public transit infrastructure spending.

As currently proposed, the latest Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies appropriations bill would reduce public spending for transit by more than $457 million  next year.

Groups expressing opposition to the move include the American Public Transportation Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Associated General Contractors of America.

In an open letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the groups argue that “infrastructure investment is critical for our nation’s economic growth,” adding that “now is the time to invest more, not less, in public transportation.”

In urging for increased funding levels, the letter continues: “Increased investment will provide the necessary resources to begin to address the more than $90 billion state-of-good-repair backlog in our nation’s transit systems and meet the mobility demands of growing communities.”

Although the current Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill, otherwise known as THUD, provides nearly $2 billion in Capital Investment Grants, that figure comprises the lowest federal funding level for such grants in nearly a decade.

The THUD legislation may be voted on by the full Senate later this year.

By Garry Boulard

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