Congress Approves Emergency COVID-19 Funding for Public Transit

Lawmakers passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act—including $25 billion in emergency funding for public transportation—late Friday afternoon, March 27. President Trump signed the bill into law just a few hours later.

This urgently needed legislation—passed with a strong bipartisan vote—provides broad economic relief to Americans and supports critical industries, including public transit.

The infusion of funding will help keep public transit systems across the nation operational during this challenging time. Public transportation will remain available so healthcare providers, first responders, grocery and pharmacy employees, and other essential personnel can reach work. Public transportation will also remain a critical lifeline as medical transportation to kidney dialysis, cancer treatments and other critical care.

The emergency funding will also help public transportation systems cover increased costs to protect the health and safety of riders and employees.

This is not a time to claim victory, but all of Congress deserves our thanks. The dire circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic placed historic pressure on America’s public transportation system. Lawmakers responded by setting aside their differences and uniting to pass legislation that demonstrates the fundamental importance of public transportation to our nation’s economy, health, and mobility.

Please join us in thanking Congress on social media. We suggest this message: "Thank you #USCongress and #WhiteHouse for passing the CARES Act with emergency #COVID19 funding for #publictransportation. #Publictransit is keeping essential workers connected to their jobs and will support long-term economic recovery. #Voices4Transit".

• Share your thanks on Facebook

To thank your legislators on Facebook, please feel free to copy and paste the suggested message above into the post that opens when you click on the link, or type in your own message.

• Share your thanks on Twitter

To thank your legislators on Twitter, simply click on the Twitter link and the suggested copy will be pre-populated for you. You can edit the message before you post it, if desired.

Make Just One More 2020 Public Transit Resolution Share Your Hopes for Public Transit Investment

Our major advocacy goal—winning increased public investment in public transportation—will be accomplished through small, steady steps that together lead to big wins like the 2015 FAST Act.

These steps are absolutely critical—even if by themselves they may not look like much!

As your last Voices for Public Transit resolution for 2020, please commit to taking the following two steps to help us build wide and deep support for increased funding for public transit.

Step 1: Imagine How Public Transportation Improvements Will Help You and Your Community

Our community is united in our support for public transportation, but we have a range of ideas about how it can be improved—and how those improvements will help our communities.

Take a moment to imagine ways greater investment in public transportation can help your community and our nation get where it needs to go. Would you like to see public transportation…?

• Help the economy by expanding access to jobs, training, and education.
• Improve safety and lower traffic congestion for everyone—including people who don’t use public transportation.
• Fight air, water, and noise pollution with quieter vehicles that use renewable energy.
• Renew neighborhoods and downtowns by bringing people together.

The ideas listed above represent just a few examples of how public transportation can improve daily lives and local communities for everyone—and what those changes look like for your community may be different than what they look like for other communities.  Would you like to see rail or bus service reaching more neighborhoods?  Bus Rapid Transit to reduce travel times?  More electric vehicles?  What other hopes do you have? Brainstorm and write down your ideas.

Step 2: Share Your Hopes and Start Conversations

Now unleash the power of your hopes for public transportation by sharing them wide and far. First, please share how you think increased public transit investment could benefit your community on Facebook and Twitter—and be sure to tag Voices for Public Transit by adding #Voices4Transit to every post. You can also share your ideas with us by email at info@voicesforpublictransit.org.

Encourage your networks to share their hopes for improved public transportation as well. Start conversations with friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers about the importance of public transportation.

Big advances in Congress and state legislatures begin with conversations among the voters in local communities. You can help drive those conversations by resolving to share your hopes for increased public transportation investment and what it could mean for everyone in your area.

2020 Resolutions to Support Public Transit

2020 Resolutions to Support Public Transit

We’re kicking off 2020 by encouraging public transit supporters to make resolutions that will expand support for public transportation funding in our nation’s capital and in our local communities—and everywhere in between.

At the start of this new decade, it is clearer than ever that communities around the country need expanded transportation options, including public transit. Our growing populations (and associated traffic), our environment, public health, and our economy all benefit when we invest in public transit.

This year and beyond, we must make sure Congress, state leaders, and local officials hear us speaking out for public transit. The level of noise in Washington, DC, and our state capitals may be more cacophonous than ever, but together we can keep public transit a bipartisan priority.

That’s why we encourage you to commit to our next Resolution:

Recruit five friends to participate in Voices for Public Transit

Voices for Public Transit has advocates in every state, and we want to keep building our community so lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hear robust and diverse support for public transit—all year long.

Please reach out to five friends—or family members, co-workers, or neighbors—and encourage them to sign up for Voices for Public Transit and get involved. Share your own story about why you support public transit—in email or in person—and highlight your favorite public transportation facts. You can also get others on board by sharing one or both of the following graphics on social media:

Take the extra step: Please do what you can and what you’re comfortable with, but if possible go the extra mile. Talk about public transit over coffee with a friend or let a co-worker use your phone to sign up right now. Follow up with friends to answer their questions and learn whether they signed up.

If someone declines, offer your thanks and just move to the next person. Keep going until you get five or more sign-ups.

Remember too, public transit supporters don’t have to be public transit riders. Public transportation benefits every person and whole communities, not just people who use bus or rail systems regularly.

In our next blog, we’ll be asking you to make one more Resolution for 2020. Now please get out there and sign up some new members!

PS: You can read about our first two Resolutions at this link and this link.

Your Next 2020 Transit Advocacy Resolution: Watch the State of the Union Address

Your Next 2020 Transit Advocacy Resolution:

Watch the State of the Union Address

In the coming weeks, we’re highlighting 2020 resolutions you can make to support increased investment in public transportation.

We started by encouraging you to support public transit when you participate in this year’s primaries and caucuses. When we say “participate,” we mean more than vote. We also encourage you to lead the conversation.

It’s a good idea to link public transit to other issues people—including our nation’s leaders—are talking about. That’s why the next 2020 resolution for our community involves a big annual milestone in Washington, DC:

Watch the State of the Union—Both Parts

The President’s State of the Union (SOTU) address and the accompanying Democratic response will take place on Tuesday, February 4. Both addresses will be made with an eye toward the November elections, and you can expect to hear about many hot-button issues. We hope to hear renewed commitments to support American transportation and infrastructure, but public transit connects to many other issues high in the public consciousness right now.

Transit Links to Other Issues

Jobs and the economy.We’ll almost certainly hear about the need to maintain a healthy economy and continue to create jobs. Public transit advocates have a great story to tell on this point. Every $1 billion invested in public transportation supports more than 50,000 jobs.

Health care. We may hear differing views about how to improve health care in America. Public transportation plays a critical role in health care for many Americans. Public transit helps people access health services and better manage their health day to day, minimizing the need for more costly hospitalization, which keeps health care costs lower for everyone. Public transit also promotes walking and bike-riding as part of a multi-modal transportation system, which help keep people healthier longer. Because public transit has a positive impact on public health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended increased funding for public transportation.

Environment. Public transit helps communities reduce both pollution and energy consumption.  As our nation debates solutions to keep our air and water clean now and in the decades ahead, public transit will be an essential way of keeping America mobile while also keeping our environment healthy.

Public transit helps millions of Americans make connections every day—to work, to school, to shopping, to health care, and to one another. Similarly, public transit and the mobility it provides connect to many of the key issues facing our nation. Please listen to the SOTU, see where you think public transit makes connections, and then share your ideas with friends, family, co-workers, and others in your community and online networks.

Let’s keep talking about public transit all year long—and continue to urge Congress to increase our nation’s investment in public transportation.

Make Your 2020 Public Transit Advocacy Resolutions

Make Your 2020 Public Transit Advocacy Resolutions

Resolve to Participate in Your Primaries or Caucuses

The new decade is here! Our nation and communities face many challenges—and public transportation must be part of the solution.

Expanding public transit can help grow our economy, create jobs, fight air pollution, and strengthen our communities. But to win increased funding for public transportation, we must raise our voices, increase our advocacy clout, and make our wishes and aspirations clear.

To kick off 2020, we’re encouraging public transit supporters everywhere to make key advocacy resolutions. Here is the first Resolution:

Commit to supporting public transit in your primaries or caucuses—in every way possible

The start of the 2020 caucuses and primaries is just weeks away, beginning in Iowa on February 3 and New Hampshire on February 11. Wherever you live, register to vote if you haven’t already and then participate! Voting is the fundamental way to engage in the political process and effect policy change.

Here’s how you can make a difference:

First: Learn about candidates—for offices at all levels of governments—and where they stand on public transportation. Visit candidate websites, read news coverage, and even email campaigns to ask.

Last year, we conducted a flash poll of Voices for Public Transit members, and 68% said that increasing funding for public transit is “as important” as most other issues or “the top of my list” in the upcoming elections. You can support your priorities by learning candidates’ positions and voting accordingly.

But wait, there’s more: During the primary season, candidates and their campaigns are listening closely to voters. If candidates hear enough passionate voices advocating for public transportation, it may impact their positions on the campaign trail and if they win office. There are many actions you can take during primary season to help make public transit an election priority, including:

• Attend a campaign event and ask a question about public transportation—Your community may host a candidate forum, or you may have the opportunity to attend a “house party” for a candidate. Your candidates may even host online events like a Twitter town hall or a Facebook Live, where you can ask questions online in real time.These types of events are a great way to connect with candidates, share your views, gather insights about your candidates’ positions—and elevate public transportation as an issue among your neighbors and friends.


• Write a letter to the editor—Local newspapers will be covering local races, and editors want to hear from readers. Write a letter to the editor highlighting a local public transportation issue and urging candidates to support increased funding for public transit. Look at your paper’s website for guidance on how to submit a letter.


• Share your views and ask questions on social media—Leading up to primaries and caucuses, use social media to highlight public transportation as your key issue. You can even tag a candidate, voice your support, or ask a question.

No matter how and where you engage, keep to the high road by being polite and respectful—and remember, public transportation shouldn’t be a partisan issue: it’s something Republicans, Democrats, and Independents can agree on because it benefits all of us. Show your passion for public transportation but leave the partisan shouting to others.

We’ll be back soon with the next Resolution. Stay tuned—and in the meantime, get out and get active in support of public transportation.