Last week Congress passed a six-month extension of the surface transportation authorization bill, which will authorize public transportation funding at current levels until March 2012. While the temporary extension is important, public transit advocates are concerned about the short and long-term outlook for public transit funding.
The House of Representatives has proposed to cut more than one-third of federal funding across the board for public transit and surface transportation programs. If these cuts are implemented, transit riders can expect service delays, and service cutbacks as transit systems will be forced to reduce service and forego critical service improvement and maintenance projects. Jobs in the private sector will be lost.
Public transit systems, businesses, employees, riders and advocates realize these cuts would be devastating to our communities and our economy, which is why they are joining together at rallies around the country on Tuesday, Sept. 20 with a message for Congress: 'Don't X Out Public Transit.'
On Don't X Out Public Transit Day, a survey will be released highlighting what a cut one-third in federal funding would mean to transit systems nationwide. A panel discussion conference call with transit leaders and advocates to discuss the impact of the cuts and the national Don't X Out Public Transit campaign. More information about the rallies and events happening around the country on Sept. 20 can be found at www.supporttransit.org.
