King County Metro awarded $395.6 million in COVID-19 relief funds
King County Metro Transit has been awarded $395.6 million by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) using funds provided by the American Rescue Plan, which is intended to help transit agencies maintain service and jobs as communities continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Transit has played a crucial role throughout the pandemic, bringing essential workers to jobs and helping the American people get to vaccine appointments and increasingly travel where they need to go as the nation opens back up.
“Public transportation has been a lifeline for communities and the American people throughout this pandemic,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This funding from President [Joe] Biden’s American Rescue Plan will help protect transit employees from layoffs, keep transit service running and ensure people can get where they need to go.”
“As our nation’s transit systems recover from COVID-19, the American Rescue Plan funds ensure that they continue to provide service to the many Americans who depend on transit to get to essential jobs, healthcare and vaccine appointments,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez.
This funding is part of more than $30 billion for public transportation in the American Rescue Plan Act which was signed into law by President Biden on March 11 of this year. The funding comes from the $26.6 billion allocated by statutory formulas to urban and rural areas, tribal governments and for the enhanced mobility of seniors and individuals with disabilities.
The act also included $2.2 billion for additional transit pandemic-associated need, which will be awarded next year. No local share is required for this funding.
