WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 19, 2020) – A supermajority of American voters– including self-identified Democrats, Republicans and Independents– support emergency funding for public transportation so that front line workers can get to jobs and to help the economy recover. A recent FirstView™ Presidential Election Post-Election survey directed by Heart+Mind Strategies found that 77 percent of American voters want to see emergency funding for public transportation. The survey results also found that 74 percent of American voters approve of the new Administration and Congress taking action to fix the public transportation infrastructure crisis facing our nation.

“These survey results clearly show that Americans not only want actions now to save public transit during the pandemic, but they want continued long-term actions that preserve and expand public transit services. APTA implores Congress and the Administration to come together to provide emergency funding for public transportation as quickly as possible,” said APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas. “The crisis becomes more severe each day that Congress delays. The public transportation industry continues to serve essential employees every day, but without additional emergency funding, many transit agencies will need to make draconian cuts to transit services and routes and furlough transit workers, leaving our communities without service and jobs when they need them most.”

Without at least $32 billion in additional emergency funding, many public transit agencies will soon be forced to make severe route and labor cuts, leaving our communities without service and jobs during an unparalleled pandemic. APTA’s surveys show that six in 10 public transit systems will need to reduce service and furlough employees in the coming months without emergency federal funding from Congress. In addition, more than eight in 10 businesses have seen a reduction in their transit industry business as a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and nearly one-third of transit industry businesses are concerned that they may go out of business if additional federal funding is not provided.

Voters from across the nation continue to voice strong support for public transportation even during this pandemic: seventy-one percent of respondents said public transportation keeps our communities working and is essential to keeping our society functioning.

The Heart+Mind Strategies FirstView™ Presidential Election Post-Election online survey was conducted from 1:00 p.m. EST on November 3, 2020 until 7:00 a.m. EST on November 4, 2020. The survey consisted of a total of 2,005 interviews with a nationally representative sample of individuals from across the United States. These questions on the survey were conducted for the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

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The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit international association of 1,500 public and private sector organizations which represent a $74 billion industry that directly employs 435,000 people and supports millions of private sector jobs. APTA members are engaged in the areas of bus, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne services, and intercity and high-speed passenger rail. This includes: transit systems; planning, design, construction, and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. APTA is the only association in North America that represents all modes of public transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services and products.            

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