APTA urges THUD Appropriations Committee leaders to fund improvements for public transit, passenger rail and infrastructure

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is urging House and Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Committee leaders to resolve their differences and provide the critical investments needed to improve the nation’s public transit, passenger rail and multimodal infrastructure. 

In a letter to Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas wrote, “I write to urge you to honor the promise of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and provide funding levels at least equal to the IIJA’s public transportation and passenger rail investments for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. These historic investments in public transportation will help communities of all sizes flourish—connecting workers to jobs, students to school and people to healthcare. Accessible, affordable public transportation helps families, students and workers save money and grow our economy.”  

In addition, APTA is urging Congress to: 

• Provide at least $21.9 billion for public transit and $20.6 billion for passenger rail in FY 2025 when combined with the IIJA’s advance appropriations. APTA says the amounts will fully fund public transit and passenger rail investments of the IIJA. 
• Provide the fully authorized amount of $6 billion for Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Capital Investment Grants (CIG) to help communities meet mobility demands. 
• Fully fund passenger rail, including the Amtrak, Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail, Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) and Railroad Crossing Elimination Grants. 
• Provide the fully authorized amount of $3 billion for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Grants, including public transportation and multi-modal projects. 

Skoutelas also voiced APTA’s support for the inclusion of several policy provisions to be included in the FY 2025 THUD Appropriations bill, including: 

• Provisions to prohibit implementation of the Rostenkowski Test and to prohibit the U.S. Department of Transportation from impeding or hindering a project from advancing or approving a project seeking a CIG federal share of more than 40 percent. 
• A provision outlined in the FY 2025 Budget Request to streamline project delivery and bring FTA’s real property acquisition authority into parity with Federal Highway Administration programs. 
• A provision in the FY 2025 Budget Request to allow public transit agencies to fund shared use micromobility projects and systems (e.g., bicycles, scooters) as “associated transit improvement” capital projects. 
• A provision outlined in the FY 2025 Budget Request to increase the allowable federal share from 80 percent to 90 percent of a project benefits underserved communities under the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail, CRISI and the Railroad Crossing Elimination grant programs. 

APTA also notes it strongly opposes the FY 2025 Budget Request proposal to provide FTA the authority to cut the federal share from 85 percent to not less than 50 percent to disincentivize vehicle customization for projects selected in FY 2025 under the Buses and Bus Facilities grant program or Low or No Emission grant program. 

“Although APTA recognizes the importance of addressing bus customization, we are concerned that this proposal is not well defined and provides no specific definitions of ‘customization’ or the qualifications of a base model bus,” Skoutelas wrote.