Plan would be a death blow to mass transit, jeopardizing safety and mobility for millions

Silver Spring, MD - The Republican Party Platform proposal to cut mass transit funding from the Highway Trust Fund is an out of touch, rightwing, extremist stance that would jeopardize the safety and mobility of millions of riders who rely on public transit each day, says the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).

“This GOP platform proposal would be a death blow to public transportation; pushing our already cash-strapped, crumbling transit systems back decades,” says ATU International President Larry Hanley. “People will board twenty-year old buses held together with spit and glue, and transfer to subway, light rail, and commuter rail systems running on ancient tracks, rusty nuts and bolts, and antiquated signal equipment. It would be a complete disaster for safety and service."

The GOP platform reads “We propose to remove from the Highway Trust Fund programs that should not be the business of the federal government… One fifth of its funds are spent on mass transit, an inherently local affair that serves only a small portion of the population, concentrated in six big cities.” This would eliminate critical federal investment that keeps service on the street, creates jobs, and helps repair and upgrade our public transit infrastructure. Read the full GOP Platform here.

“The GOP is out of touch with everyday Americans when it comes to transit. It’s not just big cities where many Americans – especially seniors, people with disabilities and low income families - depend on buses and subways each day. From Pittsburgh, PA, to Mobile AL, and Seattle, WA, to Baton Rouge, LA, more and more transit-dependent Americans are being stranded at bus stops and rail stations due to budget cuts” Hanley continued. “Our government is spending $2 billion a week to fight wars and rebuild cities halfway across the world, while our own cities and their transit systems get worse by the day. This GOP platform proposal takes us nowhere but backwards.

"Americans want reliable and affordable public transportation that can get them safely to and from work, school, the doctor and other daily tasks,” Hanley continued. “The GOP wants millions of transit-dependent people to lose their ride, their job, and their dignity.

“Voters will remember that in November.”