IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1258 

Declaring that public transit is a national priority which requires funding 

equal to the level of highway funding. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2020 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois (for himself, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. PAYNE, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. NADLER, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. 

PETERS, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BEYER, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. 

SUOZZI, Mr. SIRES, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. 

BROWN of Maryland, Mr. COHEN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. DANNY

K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. POCAN) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

RESOLUTION 

Declaring that public transit is a national priority which 

requires funding equal to the level of highway funding. 

Whereas public transit is an essential service for communities 

across the country; 

Whereas 2,800,000 essential workers rely on public transit to 

travel to and from work; 

Whereas, according to the American Public Transportation 

Association, 60 percent of public transit riders are people 

of color; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HRES 1258 IH 

Whereas any strategy to meaningfully reduce emissions from 

transportation relies on public transit; 

Whereas American companies, large and small, prefer locations in public transit-connected communities to attract 

and retain workers and customers; 

Whereas the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 

and the November 2018 Fourth National Climate Assessment report found that human activity is the dominant 

cause of observed climate change over the past century, 

and a changing climate is causing sea levels to rise and 

increasing wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and other 

extreme weather events that threaten human life, healthy 

communities, and critical infrastructure; 

Whereas, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, 

transportation is the leading sector of greenhouse gas 

emissions in the United States, and such emissions are 

rising while emissions in other sectors are decreasing; 

Whereas safe, reliable, and convenient public transit is an essential tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the 

transportation sector; 

Whereas Americans of color, long underserved by transportation decisions since establishment of the Federal highway program, are disproportionately reliant on public 

transit to provide access to jobs and essential services 

such as grocery stores, education, and health care; 

Whereas people with low incomes are also disproportionately 

reliant on public transit and, when public transportation 

is not safe, reliable, or convenient, may be cut off from 

opportunities; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HRES 1258 IH 

Whereas the Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimates 

that the average annual cost to own and operate a vehicle 

is $9,282; 

Whereas, according to data from the American Community 

Survey, over 1,000,000 rural households do not have access to a car and are reliant on public transit to access 

jobs and essential services; 

Whereas there are 292 counties where at least 10 percent of 

households do not have access to a car and 56 percent 

of such households are in rural areas; 

Whereas local and regional economies rely on the efficient 

movement of people to jobs and services and public transit, an essential connection for millions of Americans, is 

critical to moving people efficiently; 

Whereas data from the American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act shows that investments in public transit produced 70 

percent more job hours than investments in highways, 

with preventive maintenance, rail car and bus purchase 

and rehabilitation and infrastructure, as the leading categories of job-creating public transit investments; 

Whereas research shows that a 10-percent increase in public 

transit seats per capita results in wage increases ‘‘between $1,500,000 and $1,800,000,000 per metropolitan 

area’’, depending on the size of the region. 

Whereas companies of all sizes are relocating to walkable and 

public transit-connected areas to ensure access to a highquality workforce because such places— 

(1) are where workers want to be; and 

(2) reinforce companies’ brand aspirations, bring 

them in close proximity to their customers and partners, 

support creativity among their employees, and help such 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HRES 1258 IH 

companies live up to high standards of corporate responsibility; 

Whereas even in smaller communities, research shows that 

public transit helps business by improving employee retention; 

Whereas travel by public transit is substantially safer than 

travel by car, with data showing that rail transit is about 

30 times safer and travel by bus is about 60 times safer; 

Whereas the fatality rate associated with using public transit 

is half that associated with driving; 

Whereas public transit trips begin and end with biking or 

walking, it is critical to improve safe bicycle and pedestrian access to transit stops to improve access to and use 

of public transit, particularly for people with lower incomes; 

Whereas in addition to producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions, public transit also releases fewer emissions linked 

to asthma and encourages active travel which improves 

public health; 

Whereas a 2013 report studied the impact of a 35-day public 

transit strike in Los Angeles, finding that the average 

delay across all major freeways in the region increased 47 

percent during the strike, with delays increasing up to 

123 percent for freeways that ran parallel to public transit lines hampered by the strike demonstrates that public 

transit contributes to congestion reduction for motorists 

by providing another option for travelers and helps take 

cars off the road; 

Whereas public transit is popular, a March 2020 poll found 

that— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HRES 1258 IH 

(1) Americans support expanding public transit by a 

77–15 margin—even as many public transit agencies face 

a growing generational funding crisis brought on by 

COVID–19; 

(2) among individuals that reported that a car was 

their primary mode of transportation, about 80 percent 

agreed that they have ‘‘no choice’’ but to drive as much 

as they do; and 

(3) just over half of car users report wishing they 

had more options; 

Whereas Americans pay a premium for housing in communities accessible to public transit, a phenomenon the National Association of Realtors called ‘‘the public transit 

effect’’; 

Whereas Americans should not have to pay a premium to be 

near public transit, but have no choice due to persistent 

under funding and disinvestment in public transit, resulting in few communities that are well served by such transit; 

Whereas, according to a 2016 study, 13 of some of the Nation’s largest cities (comprising 12,200,000 people) offer 

infrequent and unreliable service; 

Whereas the Federal Transit Administration has found the 

public transit maintenance backlog to be 

$98,000,000,000, an amount which the Department of 

Transportation estimates would require transit agencies 

to increase spending by $7,000,000,000 per year to eliminate the backlog over a 20-year period; 

Whereas Federal transportation programs were developed in 

the 1950s to build out the interstate highway system, a 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HRES 1258 IH 

purpose which remains the primary goal of the Federal 

transportation program; 

Whereas the gas tax, often referred to as a ‘‘user fee’’ on 

drivers, is the primary source of revenue for the Highway 

Trust Fund which includes the Mass Transit Account because public transit directly benefits drivers by removing 

cars from the road; 

Whereas, since 1982, approximately 80 percent of Federal 

transportation program funding has been allocated to 

highways and only 20 percent to public transit ‘‘(Federal 

80–20 split’’); 

Whereas the Federal 80–20 split incentivizes investments in 

highways rather than public transit due to the disproportionate availability of funds, States and local communities 

are stripped of viable options in terms of the types of infrastructure they can build; 

Whereas the Federal 80–20 split provides inadequate funding 

for public transit, contributing to the backlog of deferred 

maintenance and infrequent or unreliable service; 

Whereas, since 2008, more than $144,000,000,000 of general 

taxpayer funds, not just tax funds from users, have been 

used to supplement dwindling revenues from the gas tax 

in order to sustain authorized highway and public transit 

spending; 

Whereas general fund tax funds are not a ‘‘user fee’’; and 

Whereas public transportation benefits all Americans: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) declares public transit benefits all Ameri3 cans and is a national priority; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HRES 1258 IH 

1 (2) finds that prioritizing public transit, includ2 ing safe access to public transit options, requires the 

3 Federal Government to provide funding to public 

4 transit that is equal to the level of highway funding. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS