WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), offers the following statement regarding S. 3412, The Public Transportation Preservation Act, legislation introduced by Senator Chris Dodd and seven co-sponsors. The bill will provide $2 billion in emergency operational funding for America’s transit systems:
“This legislation will keep thousands of people working, and will slow severe service cuts and fare increases that are harming the nation’s transit riders.
“Millions of Americans rely on transit as a safe and affordable way to get to work. Without this legislation, the deep service cuts announced or threatened nationwide will undermine working people and businesses still reeling from the effects of the deep recession.
“Despite historically high transit ridership, the economic downturn has produced state and local government budget shortfalls that have blown a hole in transit agency budgets. In more than 8 out of 10 public transportation systems across the country, job and service cuts or major fare increases have occurred or are planned.
“This is a widespread problem, with both riders and workers severely impacted. Transportation labor thanks Sens. Dodd, Menendez, Durbin, Schumer, Lautenberg, Sherrod Brown, Reed and Gillibrand for pushing this emergency legislation that will save thousands of jobs and preserve public transit services for millions.”
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The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, represents 32 member unions in the aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, visit www.ttd.org.
