Statement by APTA President William Millar
"On behalf of the more than 1,500 members of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), I applaud the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate for passing a six-month extension of the long overdue surface transportation bill through March 31, 2012.
This is a positive step forward and we urge Congress to begin now to work to pass a long-term, well-funded, multimodal surface transportation bill.
I would like to acknowledge the leadership of House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in forging bipartisan agreement for this extension. Also special thanks to Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; Rep. Nick Rahall, ranking member of the Committee; Sen. Barbara Boxer, chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee; Sen. James Inhofe, ranking member of the Committee; Sen. Tim Johnson, chair of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Sen. Richard Shelby, ranking member of the Committee for all their efforts and leadership.
Investing in transportation, including highways and public transportation, creates jobs and provides access to jobs necessary to move the economy forward. It also addresses the country's backlog of critical infrastructure projects.
Every $1 billion invested in public transportation creates and supports 36,000 American jobs and every $1 invested generates $4 in economic returns."
