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