The Right Direction for Transit
By Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04)
The United Nations released its most recent report on climate change last week, and there’s not a lot of good news. Our emissions are warming the planet and threatening the health and safety of our future.
We must act urgently and boldly.
Transportation represents the largest sector of emissions in our country, and those emissions are rising. With the national spotlight on Congress over the future of infrastructure and recent Senate passage of a $1 trillion package, now is the time to raise the volume on transit.
We need more money for this essential service, but we also need to change our thinking about how we invest in transit. It’s not enough to just build rail lines and buy buses: agencies must also run more frequent service.
It’s time for a federal program dedicated to growing transit service.
We need to get this right because transit is critical to all of us — whether you’re taking it to a concert or sporting event or relying on it to get to a doctor’s appointment or a job interview, we all deserve and need more frequent, convenient, and high-quality service.
And we know now that moving people in an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective way doesn’t just unclog on roads and highways, but it also addresses two major existential threats we face as a society: the climate crisis and racial inequities.
For far too long, the federal government has invested what little money it spends on transit almost exclusively in building public transit (capital projects), but not funding operations.
This means that agencies are able to build new services, but they are on their own when it comes to operating the service. Too often, states and local communities choose not to adequately support transit agency operating budgets.
This is true in Georgia, where the state constitution prohibits spending gas tax revenues on transit. As a result, transit service is too often sporadic and unreliable.
And we wonder why ridership is not higher? Why emissions from the transportation sector are rising? Why too many low-income communities and communities of color are not able to easily access jobs and services?
We are in a unique moment where the President, Congress, and the American public are demanding bold action. I was proud to vote for the House-passed INVEST Act, which dramatically increases funding to build more public transit nationwide.
But I am deeply disappointed that the bipartisan infrastructure bill approved by the Senate leaves out nearly all of the funding and policy changes proposed in the INVEST Act. As we seek to improve the Senate’s proposal, it’s time to think even bigger.
What’s needed is a bold, game-changing proposal. That’s where the Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act comes in.
I introduced this bill in June. It builds on the investments proposed by the President and the INVEST Act and creates the first-ever federal program dedicated to growing public transit service.
The Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act allocates $20 billion annually for four years (for a total of $80 billion) to transit systems for operating budgets to improve bus and rail service nationwide. The bill requires funds to be used for projects that make substantial improvements to transit service, including increased frequency, hours, and days of service, with a priority on areas of persistent poverty and underserved communities.
By providing people with a more convenient service, a program like this could slash carbon emissions from transportation while connecting more people to economic opportunities and essential services.
We must not waste this once-in-a-generation opportunity to address climate change and racial inequities. The time has arrived for dedicated investments in transit in America. The Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act offers us that once-in-a-generation opportunity.
Congressman Hank Johnson represents Georgia’s 4th Congressional District.