Title: Declaring that public transit is a national priority which requires funding equal to the level of highway funding.
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
This resolution declares that public transit benefits all Americans and is a national priority. It finds that prioritizing public transit requires the federal government to provide funding to public transit that is equal to the level of highway funding.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1258 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






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. Garcia 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. Velazquez, 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. Barragan, 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;
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;
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 high-quality 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 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--

    (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 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
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) declares public transit benefits all Americans and is a 
        national priority; and
            (2) finds that prioritizing public transit, including safe 
        access to public transit options, requires the Federal 
        Government to provide funding to public transit that is equal 
        to the level of highway funding.
                                 <all>