Clinton Pushes $1.7B Mass Transit Aid Bill Before Senate Panel

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton testified Sept. 9 before a U.S. Senate committee urging the passage of a bill that would grant $1.7 billion in funds to mass transit around the country and $237 million to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow MAKING THE CASE FOR FEDERAL TRANSIT AID: Amalgamated Transit Union International Vice President Larry Hanley, flanked by U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, urged Congress to approve a bill that would provide a major funding infusion for mass transit here and across the nation.

Senator Clinton, who introduced the bill after a similar one gained support in the U.S. House of Representatives, spoke before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and stressed that mass-transit ridership has increased due to rising fuel costs.

'85 Million More Trips'

"In the first quarter of this year alone, riders took more than 2.6 billion trips on public transportation, nearly 85 million more than during the same time last year," she said in her written testimony. "And of course, as my colleague Senator Charles Schumer pointed out, New York City is the epicenter of mass transit."

HILLARY CLINTON: Transit systems need help.

 

She added that the measure should not be the last to address the nation's mass-transit situation.

"But I want to recognize that this is what I consider to be a medium-term solution," Senator Clinton said. "We have the short-term problem because of the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund. We know that it's approaching bankruptcy. The Mass Transit Fund is facing a solvency crisis."

Unions Back Bill

Several union leaders including Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint and commuter advocacy groups encouraged New York's Senators to take action on the bill in the upper house of Congress.

Mr. Toussaint has suggested that the implementation of the mass-transit funding could help alleviate the MTA's budget deficit without significant fare hikes or give-back demands to unions.

Larry Hanley, a vice president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, personally thanked Senator Clinton during a press conference at Grand Central Station Sept. 12, noting that transit workers around the country were currently suffering from the fact that 35 percent of transit systems were cutting back on service.

MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot Sander did not say specifically that the Federal funding if passed would end the need of fare hikes or labor givebacks, but noted it would change the outlook for how the agency planned to reduce spending.

"It would do a lot," he said. "It could only help."