Over 75 percent of Americans support using tax dollars to create, expand and improve public transportation in their communities, and that close to 70 percent believe Congress should increase the level of investment for public transportation infrastructure, says a study elaborated by American Public Transportation Association and Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI).
“It is time for Congress to recognize the clear message from Americans around the nation: we support investing our tax dollars to expand and maintain our public transportation systems. Investing in our public transit infrastructure is a key ingredient to growing the economy in our local communities. It is about creating jobs and improving the access to those jobs. This can only happen with long-term investment,” Michael Melaniphy, President and CEO of APTA said.
The U.S. Senate recently passed a short-term extension of the federal program for surface transportation funding (MAP-21), maintaining current funding levels only until the end of July 2015. According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and APTA’s Bottom Line report, more than USD 43 billion in annual investments are needed over six years to address investment needs for the nation’s public transportation infrastructure.
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