“(April 9) was a huge success as more than 350 organizations from across the country in small, medium, and large communities participated in the Stand Up for Transportation Day, a grassroots local advocacy day,” said American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President and CEO Michael Melaniphy. “There were more than 150 community events with many elected officials, business, community, and transportation leaders, and public transit riders. Also, #standup4publictransportation was the third highest trending topic in the United States yesterday.”
Stand Up For Transportation Day was the initiative of APTA Chair Phillip Washington, the CEO of Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD). In Denver, nearly 400 people turned out to join the RTD and its many partners, including the Denver mayor, for a unity parade and rally as a part of Stand Up For Transportation Day.
“I was thrilled to see that people from all walks of life, in Denver and throughout America, came together to tell Congress that federal funding for public transportation is essential and they need to pass a long-term transportation bill,” said RTD CEO Phillip Washington. “This is a national movement and we are not going away. Congress needs to act now to pass long-term, sustainable transportation funding.”
“The message is loud and clear. Americans want Congress to make transportation funding a priority and pass a multi-year, well-funded transportation bill,” said Melaniphy.
The current federal transportation funding bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), is set to expire on May 31, 2015. Yesterday, APTA released a report which shows how a lack of federal funding would cut the economy by $227 billion and would result in a 43 percent cut in public transit system budgets. This would have a disastrous impact on public transportation systems and the communities they serve.
“A long-term transportation bill is urgently needed to help our local and national economies grow and to provide crucial funding for public transportation infrastructure,” said Melaniphy.
