APTA Testifies Before House T&I Subcommittee on Transit’s Role in Growing Economy
4/10/2025
Nathaniel P. Ford Sr., CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, FL, represented APTA before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit April 9. He highlighted public transportation’s role in moving people, creating jobs, and growing the economy.
Ford focused on the critical investments needed to improve public transit in the U.S., passenger rail, and multimodal infrastructure. He emphasized the positive impact federal investments are having on local communities and the national economy, particularly in supporting millions of public- and private-sector jobs.
“As this committee develops the next Surface Transportation Authorization bill, we urge you to recognize that public transportation creates economic growth opportunities for businesses of all sizes, and it creates good-paying, family-supporting jobs,” Ford said. “Transit not only connects workers to jobs, students to school, and people to healthcare, it is an economic driver for the private sector—77 percent of federal public transportation investment flows to American businesses.
“Transit capital projects support businesses in communities across the country. Federal funding impacts more than 2,000 suppliers in 48 states and Washington, DC, including smaller urban and rural areas where transit buses, railcars, and their parts are often manufactured.
“We call on Congress to continue to invest in public transit infrastructure to ensure that transit agencies can continue to address the more than $100 billion state-of-good-repair backlog and meet the mobility demands of people across our nation.”