In a statement released Monday, August 2, President and CEO of The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Paul P. Skoutelas, expressed the organization’s support of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The statement read as follows:
“The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), on behalf of the public transportation industry, commends the U.S. Senate for its bipartisan efforts to advance the ‘Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’. This proposed legislation is a vital and necessary step to provide the transformational investment in public transportation infrastructure that our country so desperately needs. It includes approximately $107 billion for public transit and $102 billion for commuter rail, Amtrak, and other high-performance rail. It also offers a wealth of opportunities for multimodal investments that will include public transit and passenger rail as essential elements.
Our nation needs bold investments in public transportation to tackle climate change, advance equity issues, and provide our growing communities sustainable mobility options. While this legislation makes critical investments to our surface transportation infrastructure and its passage is vital to creating a 21st Century transit network, there is still more work to be done. APTA will continue working with Congress and the Administration to ensure we make the necessary investments to modernize public transit and passenger rail systems and meet the growing and evolving mobility demands of our cities and communities.”