Source: Newsweek

Excerpt:

The COVID-19 nightmarethat we all lived through demonstrated the incredible impact federal funding can have when it comes to providing the essential bus and rail service millions of working men and women rely upon.

Operating funds enabled brave frontline transport workers to keep the buses and trains running. Grocery store workers could still get to their jobs and keep the shelves stocked with food. Nurses could get to their hospitals to care for the sick. Firefighters could get to their trucks to battle fires.

Now that the COVID-19 health crisis has passed, however, the federal government is again applying its pre-pandemic policy prohibiting the use of federal funds for operational expenses. Transit agencies receive federal money for capital projects, which include the purchase of new buses, trains, track, and other infrastructure. But they can’t use federal allocations for operational expenses: fuel, electricity, wages, and daily maintenance.

Read more: Working People Need Congress to Fund Mass Transit