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Dear Friend,
We just got word from our team on Capitol Hill - despite the massive blizzard bearing down on the East Coast this week, the Senate is pushing forward on an $85 billion jobs bill.
But the draft being circulated has not a single dollar to address the crisis in transit funding, which threatens severe cuts to essential service and the loss of thousands of jobs.
Tell your senators: Public transportation investments create jobs!
And it's not just transit that's been left out of the Senate jobs bill - there's no funding for innovative projects that can move us away from foreign oil, not a dime for high-speed rail or Amtrak, no reform of highway funding…the list goes on.
But a recent analysis of the previous economic stimulus package shows us that investments in public transportation have produced twice the jobs of highway projects.1 A package of investments developed by Transportation for America has been projected to support nearly half a million jobs.2
If we are serious about creating and saving jobs, our senators need to insist on investing more in public transportation. Transit operating assistance - the emergency dollars that make sure America's bus drivers, rail operators, and station agents can get paid - keep all Americans moving.
When they don't get funded, bus routes are eliminated, weekend and evening service is reduced on trains and subways...millions of people are stranded at the station. And in difficult times, the economy suffers even more.
Don't let your senators squander this opportunity to make it right - demand that they fund transit operating assistance and other key transportation proposals!
Investing in public transportation is an investment in American lives and livelihood. Thank you in advance for making sure the Senate knows it too.
Sincerely,
Ilana Preuss
National Outreach Director
Transportation for America
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