Dear United States Senators,
We offer our full support of Senators Van Hollen and Fetterman’s “Moving Transit Forward Act.” The bill will provide greater quality transit to communities across the country.
With its new formula for operating expenses, this vital legislation will assist transit agencies in big and small cities to increase or improve transit service. This new funding could also support safety and security enhancements, and includes a “maintenance of effort” requirement to ensure continued state and local government support. It will help increase service frequency, provide additional hours of service, and add new, frequent service to underserved communities.
For decades, the federal government has supported the cost of operating aviation through air traffic control and the cost of shipping through investment in ports and the management of locks and dams in the inland waterways. These are essential services for the movement of goods and people. Operating high-quality transit is just as essential to getting people to employment and to giving businesses access to talent and customers.
The pandemic has starkly demonstrated that public transit is not just important; it’s essential to our communities, local economies, and the lives of millions of people across the country. Essential workers rely on and operate transit, small businesses depend on transit, and historically marginalized communities depend on transit. Transit is not just a key component of economic recovery, it’s the lifeline to a more environmentally sustainable society and a road to equity for disconnected communities, rural, urban, and suburban.
While Congress has taken vital steps in recent years to fund transit, including the bipartisan infrastructure law, the fact of the matter is that the lack of congressional action on operations funding has led to critical funding shortfalls at numerous transit agencies and has left many on the verge of a fiscal cliff.
The Moving Transit Forward Act will help fix that.
We hope you will support and cosponsor this vital piece of legislation to ensure public transit does not just recover from COVID but expands to create more sustainable and prosperous communities.
Sincerely,
National Campaign for transit Justice | 3518 South Edmunds Street | Seattle, WA 98118
TransitJustice.org
| The National Campaign for Transit Justice |
| National Resource Defense Council |
| Transportation for America |
| America Walks |
| 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania |
| 1000 Friends of Wisconsin |
| 350 Milwaukee |
| 350 MKE |
| 412 Justice |
| Active Transportation Alliance – Chicago, IL |
| Anchorage Citizens Coalition |
| Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation (BEST) |
| BetterTransitNOW |
| Beverly Scott and Associates, LLC |
| Bike Anchorage |
| Bike Durham |
| Bikemore |
| CASA,Inc. |
| CASE Citizens Alliance for a Sustainable Englewood |
| Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Environmental Justice Ministry |
| Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Environmental Justice Ministry environmental Justice |
| Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) |
| Central Maryland Transportation Alliance |
| Citizen Action of New York |
| Claiborne Avenue Alliance Design Studio |
| Clean Air Council |
| Clean Air Council |
| Clevelanders for Public Transit |
| Coalition for Economic Justice |
| Coalition for Smarter Growth |
| Commuters Take Action |
| Congress for the New Urbanism |
| CultureHouse |
| Denver Streets Partnership |
| Detroit People’s Platform – Transit Justice Team |
| Downtown Residents Advocacy Network (Baltimore) |
| Elmont Cultural Center |
| Endangered Species Coalition |
| Environmental Law & Policy Center |
| Farm&City |
| For the Many |
| Friends of Caltrain |
| Grassroots Alexandria |
| GreenLatinos |
| Grow Smart RI |
| Health by Design |
| Health by Design |
| In the Public Interest |
| Indivisible Colorado |
| Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Program |
| Law Office of Dennis M Grzezinski |
| Madison Area Bus Advocates |
| Madison Area Bus Advocates |
| Maine People’s Alliance |
| MARTA Army |
| Massachusetts Action for Justice |
| MAYOR EMERITUS, CITY OF CAPE CANAVERAL , FLORIDA 32920 |
| MHAction |
| Move California |
| MOVE Ohio |
| Move Redmond |
| Municipality of Anchorage, Public Transit |
National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)
| Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) |
| Neighbors for Clean Air |
| New York Lawyers for the Public Interest |
| No More Freeways |
| Nu-Voters Movement |
| Open Plans |
| Phoenix Finance |
| Pittsburghers for Public Transit |
| Planning and Conservation League |
| Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada |
| Public Advocates |
| Reconnect Rochester |
| Reno + Sparks Chamber of Commerce |
| Rethink35 |
| RI Transit Riders |
| Riders Alliance |
| Rise and Resist Elevator Action Group |
| Roanoke Group, Sierra Club |
| RTD Rider’s Alliance |
| San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council |
| Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail & Trail |
| Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail and Trail |
| Seamless Bay Area |
| Sierra Club |
| Southwest Energy Efficiency Project |
| Streets For All |
| StreetsPAC |
| Sunrise Movement KC |
| Sunrise Oberlin |
| Sustain Charlotte |
| Syracuse United Neighbors (SUN) |
| The Clean Air Coalition of Western New York |
| The Street Trust |
| The Transit Coalition |
| Together for Brothers (T4B) and Albuquerque Transit Riders Union (ABQTRU) |
| Transbay Coalition |
| Transform |
| Transit Alliance Miami |
| Transit For All PA! |
| Transit Forward Philadelphia |
| Transportation Choices Coalition |
| Transportation for Massachusetts |
| Transportation Riders United |
| Tri-State Transportation Campaign |
| Unite North Metro Denver |
| Virginia Conservation Network |
| Virginia Organizing |
| Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness |
| Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice |
| Citizen Action of New York |
| Grow Smart RI |
| Tri-State Transportation Campaign |
| Coalition for Economic Justice |
| Municipality of Anchorage, Public Transit |
| Claiborne Avenue Alliance Design Studio |
| Congress for the New Urbanism |
| No More Freeways |
| Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) |
| Genesis–A Gamaliel Network Affiliate |
| League of Conservation Voters (LCV) |
| Catskill Mountainkeeper |
| Safe Streets Austin |
| Reconnect Austin |
| Union of Concerned Scientists |
| Commuter Rail Alaska |
| Coalition for Clean Transportation |
| We Are Revolutionary |
| Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition |
| Evergreen Action |