The National Campaign for Transit Justice and 167 partner organizations sent the following letter to Chair Sam Graves, Ranking Member Rick Larsen, and other members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee:
Dear Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Larsen,
We, the undersigned, write to express grave concern about the surface transportation reauthorization bill recently released by the committee. At a time when affordability is a pressing concern for families, the bill fails to meet the moment. By increasing guaranteed funding for highways while cutting guaranteed funding for transit, the bill would be a significant step backward for cities, towns, and communities—limiting families’ freedom to choose how they get around—and harming the tens of millions of people who rely on public transportation every day. We urge you to work with your colleagues to strengthen this legislation by investing more in affordable transportation options, funding transit operations, and prioritizing federal-aid roadway maintenance before the bill reaches the House floor.
At a time when Americans are struggling with rising costs for gas, food, and electricity, Congress should be advancing policies that reduce the cost of living—not reinforcing the status quo.
For most families, transportation is the second-highest household expense after housing, and the cost of driving has only gone up with record-high gas prices and rising car prices. In much of the country, transportation costs are driven by the necessity of owning and operating a car, covering purchase, financing, fuel, insurance, and maintenance. These expenses add up to thousands of dollars each year, placing a significant burden on working families.
The most effective way to bring down these costs is to provide people with more transportation options. Frequent, reliable public transit, along with safe infrastructure for walking and biking, can give Americans viable alternatives to costly car ownership. Yet for decades, federal policy has underinvested in transit, allocating roughly $1 to transit for every $6 spent on highways. The result is a system that leaves too many Americans with no choice but to drive.
This bill will continue that misguided trend.
Notably, it does not include Rep. Hank Johnson’s H.R. 3449, the Stronger Communities through Better Transit Act, a common-sense proposal to establish a federal transit operations program to ensure transit systems can provide the frequent, reliable service riders depend on every day.
The bill also fails to level the playing field between transit and highways and continues to significantly underinvest in transit. It cuts funding for road improvements that make it safer for people walking or biking to transit. The bill does not prioritize maintenance of existing roads, bridges, and highways over roadway capacity expansion, which will burden both transit riders and drivers with added costs and travel delays due to poor roadway conditions.
While the bill attempts to stop the Administration from delaying or canceling grants based on non-statutory policy priorities going forward, the Administration continues to freeze over $2.8 billion in competitive grants supporting affordable transportation options. Meanwhile, the Office of Management and Budget has withheld $4.9 billion from the transit Capital Investment Grants program. It is unclear to us how the bill’s language can be effective. How can Congress pass a new bill when the Administration is blatantly ignoring Congressional intent on policy and funding contained in the last reauthorization? Without stronger guardrails, Congress is just giving the administration funding to pursue its ideological priorities without regard to Congress’s constitutional authority.
In closing, transportation policy is a critical economic policy. Giving people more affordable and reliable ways to get around is one of the most effective ways to lower costs for working families.
There is still time to get this right, and we urge Congress to meet this moment by investing more in affordable transportation options, funding transit operations, and prioritizing federal-aid roadway maintenance. Doing so would represent a meaningful step toward lowering costs for families and building a more affordable, accessible, and efficient transportation system that works for all.
Sincerely,
National Campaign for Transit Justice, LeeAnn Hall
America Walks, Mike McGinn
Natural Resources Defense Council, Shruti Vaidyanathan
Transportation for America, Elisa Ramirez
Sierra Club, Katherine Garcia
Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Program, Basav Sen
Union of Concerned Scientists, Molly McKinley
10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, Nicole Brunet
1000 Friends of Iowa, Kari Carney
5th Square Advocacy, Will Tung
Ability360, Tory Rocca
Accelerate Neighborhood Climate Action, Elyria Swansea and Karen Bueno
Activate St Pete, Max McCann
Active Transportation Alliance, W Robert Schultz III
All Aboard Ohio, John Esterly
Allendale Strong, Dorothy Wiley
Anchorage Tribes Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska, Tasha Hotch
Arkansas Community Organizations, Neil Sealy
Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Lana Harshaw
Bike Cleveland, Jacob VanSickle
Bike Durham, John Tallmadge
Bike HoCo – Bicycling Advocates of Howard County, MD, Jack Guarneri
Brown Family Health Center, Gary Roberts
Capitol Heights Presbyterian Church, Rev. Mark Meeks
Car-Lite Long Beach, Kurt Canfield
Catskill Mountainkeeper, Taylor Jaffe
CDP Energy & Environment Initiative, Thomas Lundy
Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Environmental Justice Ministry, Lee McNair
Center for Neighborhood Technology, Miriam Sava
Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, Brian O’Malley
Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund, Quentin Scott
Circulate Planning & Policy, Aria Grossman
Citizens’ Alliance for a Sustainable Englewood, Jan Brown
City of Rochester, David Riley
Clean Air Council, Titania Markland
CO Jewish Climate Action, Moshe Kornfeld
Coalition Against the Mid-States Corridor, Mark Nowotarski
Coalition for Economic Justice, Anthony Gault
Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, Colin Fiske
Coalition for Smarter Growth, Stewart Schwartz
COCRN Colorado Community Rights Network, J.D. Ruybal
Colorado Call to Action and CatholicNetwork, Stefanie Klass
Colorado Cross Disabilities Coalition, Paolo C. Solorzano
Colorado Mothers Out Front, Dr. Velma Campbell
Colorado Small Business Alliance, Marie Venner
Columbia River Volkssport Club, Henry Hainline
Communities for Our Colleges, Fernando Mejia Ledesma
Community for Sustainable Energy, Fred Kirsch
Conservation Law Foundation, Paulina Muratore
Creek Capital Partners LLC, Steve Creekmore
DC Transportation Equity Network, Kai Hall
Democracy For America Advocacy Fund, Charles Chamberlain
Denver Streets Partnership, Jill Locantore
Detroit People’s Platform, Renard Monczunski
East Coast Greenway Alliance, Niles Barnes
East Metro Strong, Will Schroeer
Elmont Cultural Center, Mimi Pierre Johnson
El Paso Streets Coalition, Luis “Sito” Negron
Environmental Law & Policy Center, Ann Mesnikoff
FairfaxForward, Hasan Dar
Fix Maryland Rail, Diane Wittner
Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Laura Sylvester
Foothills Rails to Trails Coalition, Breanna Fokes
ForeverGreen Trails, Larry Leveen
Friends of Allen’s Corner, Zoe Miller
Friends of Woodfords Corner, Lucybck@outlook.com
Grassroots Alexandria, Jim Durham
Greater Greater Washington, Chelsea Allinger
Greater Park Hill Community, Bridget Walsh
Green House Connection Center, Harmony Cummings
GreenLatinos, Andrea Marpillero-Colomina
Hinge Neighbors Inc, Shawn Dunwoody
Hollywood Democrats, Charles Chamberlain
I-475 Neighborhoods Coalition, Peggy Daly-Masternak
I-70/Vasquez Blvd Citizens Advisory Committee, Rachael Lehman
Indivisible Ambassadors, Philip Beck and Elizabeta Stacishin
International Parking & Mobility Institute, Rachel Yoka
JustEconomics, Seimy Mendoza
Kansas City Bus Riders Union, Anthony Cunningham
Law Office of Dennis M Grzezinski, Dennis M Grzezinski
Living Independence Network Corporation, Jeremy Maxand
Living Streets Alliance, Vanessa Cascio
Local Motion, Inc, Christina Erickson
Louisiana 4-Corners Coalition for Transportation Planning Reform, Kim Mitchell
Madison Area Bus Advocates, Susan De Vos
Mainers for Smarter Transportation, Myles Smith
Maine People’s Alliance, Cate Blackford
Maine Rail Group, Peter Cole
Marin County Bicycle Coalition, Warren Wells
Mayfair Park Neighborhood Association Board, Debbie Thornburg James
Mental Health & Inclusion Ministries, Amy Petré Hill
Metropolitan Planning Council, Audrey Wennink
Mobilify Southwestern Pennsylvania, Breen Masciotra
Montbello Neighborhood Improvement Association, Emmett Hobley
MountainTrue, Susan Bean
Move California, Eli Lipmen
Move LA, Eli Lipmen
Move Minnesota, MJ Carpio
MOVE Ohio, Akshai Singh
Move Redmond, Kelli Refer
Moving Maine Network, Zoe Miller
Mueller Neighborhood Association, Andrew Clements
Natural Resources Council of Maine, Josh Caldwell
New York Communities for Change, Olivia Leirer
New Yorkers for Transportation Equity, Elizabeth Oh
No More Freeways, Chris Smith
Nondrivers Alliance, Anna Zivarts
North Range Concerned Citizens, Kristi Douglas
NU V.O.T.E.R.S. Movement, Omari Shakur
One Fair Wage, Fekkak Mamdouh
Our Streets, Joe Harrington
Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Laura Chu Wiens
Planning and Conservation League, Matthew Baker
Providence Streets Coalition, Dylan Giles
Reconnect Rochester, Cody Donahue
Rethink35, Miriam Schoenfield
Ride Illinois, Dave Simmons
Ride New Orleans, Bob Danton
Riders Alliance, Danny Pearlstein
Safe Streets Austin, Adam Greenfield
San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council, Christine Canay
Save EPA, Jeff Hart
Scajaquada Corridor Coalition, Barbara Rowe
Seamless Bay Area, Adina Levin
Southern Environmental Law Center, Garrett Gee
Spirit of the Sun, Shannon Francis
Spokane Reimagined, Erik Lowe
Streets For All, Michael Schneider
StreetsPAC, Eric McClure
Strong Towns Columbus, Stewart Weinland
Sunnyside United Neighbors Inc (SUNI), Trupti Suthar
Sunset Heights Neighborhood Improvement Association, Angel Mendoza
Sustain Charlotte, Meg Fencil
System Change Not Climate Change, Maura Stephens
TakeItBack.Org, Charles Chamberlain
Texas Streets Coalition, Katy Atkiss
The Mockingbird Society, Charles Smith
The Street Trust, Lindsay Huber
The Transit Coalition, Bart Reed
Tidewater Transit Advocacy, Mary Lou Burke
Together Colorado, Rabbi Eliot J Baskin
Transbay Coalition, Carter Lavin
Transform, Abibat Rahman-Davies
Transit Alliance Miami, Cathy Dos Santos
Transit Columbus, Stevie Pasamonte
Transit Choices, Robin Budish
Transit For All PA, Connor Descheemaker
Transit Forward Philly, Stephen Bronskill
Transit Now Tampa Bay, Dayna Lazarus
Transit Riders Alliance, Paolo C. Solorzano
Transit Trekker, Kimberly Huntress-Inskeep
TransitMatters, Caitlin Allen-Connelly
Transportation for Massachusetts, Pete Wilson
Transportation Riders United, Megan Owens
Unite North Metro Denver, Fran Aguirre
USGBC Texas, Jonathan Kraatz
Vermont Natural Resources Council, Kati Gallagher
Vibrant Littleton and Littleton Business Alliance, Patrick Santana
Virginia Organizing, Brian Johns
Vision Zero Maine, Paul Drinan
Walk San Francisco, Jodie Medeiros
Wall of Women, Paddy McClelland
We Are Revolutionary, Thaddieus Rouse
Western MA Transportation Advocacy Network, Laura Sylvester
Wheat Ridge Council District 2, Rachel Hultin
Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance, Cathy Van Maren
Working for Racial Equity and Southwest Organization for Sustainability, Anna Ramirez
YIMBYs Of Northern Virginia, Jane Green