As the President’s Infrastructure Plan makes it way to Congress in the next couple of weeks, The Bus Coalition wants to highlight the benefits of including a $2.85 billion investment for the Bus and Bus Facility Program.
If implemented, TBC’s proposal would:
• Increase Domestic Manufacturing: Provide for the purchase of approximately 14,000 domestically manufactured buses. Attached to the email is a breakdown of where bus parts are manufactured throughout the country;
• Create Jobs: Create approximately 102,907 jobs in rural, suburban and urban areas throughout the country;
• Quickly Produce Economic Growth: The 2016 round of the Bus and Bus Facility Program was oversubscribed 8 to 1. Bus purchase orders are sitting on the shelf waiting for additional federal investment.
• Help the Working Class: Help low income riders get better access to work, school and recreational activities. 69% of bus transit riders have household incomes less than $50,000 and 81% have household incomes less than $80,000;
• Restore Critical Funding: In the past, funds for the Bus and Bus Facility program were diverted leaving bus transit agencies without adequate resources. While recent progress was made in the FAST Act, $2.85 billion is needed to restore the program to pre-MAP21 levels and bring bus transit agencies to a state of good repair.