The committee will come to order. Todays hearing will focus on the reauthorization of the vast act, the nations current surface transportation bill, that is embers decembers on september 30th. We will hear the perspective of key stakeholders. A long term reauthorization bill is critical to providing the certainty and stability that transit agencies, cities and states across the countries need to make responsible Transportation Planning decisions. Public transportation plays a key role in our nations economy, there are over 430,000 workers employed in Public Transportation in the united states, transit provides approximately 33 million trips every day, taking Many Americans to and from work, school, and medical appointments. And not just in big urban cities, but also in small, rural areas. However we find ourselves at yet another service says petition authorization is the most significant issue that needs to be addressed. In order to address a comprehensive, long term reauthorization bill. While this committee does not have jurisdiction over Health Service transportation bills are paid for, it is important that revenue shortfalls are addressed in a way that meets current transportation needs. The Highway Trust Fund was intended to be funded with federal gas taxes. But since 1933, congress has chosen to transfer money into the reauthorization bill. And the congress reappropriate 350 billion general funding dollars to pay for the fast act, and the transit portion of the fast act required an 18. 1 billion Dollar General fund in general fusion. And fanny may and a Federal Reserve surplus funds should not be used as a pig bank. Public transportation is an area that is known for over plumbing, and bipartisan support. I intend to work with senator brown to continue the bipartisan tradition as we seek to balance the needs of bus, rail and urban systems across the country. On demand service, transitions to electric vehicles and deployment of autonomous that should be addressed in a comprehensive bill. Traditional fixed Rate Services and central backbone for conference of transportation networks. However, there have been numerous technological advances that can enable a Higher Quality of service at a lower costs. For example, transit agencies should incorporate these technologies to complement outside of Service Hours to provide non emergency medical transportation, to bring riders from fixed Route Services to their final destinations and to modernize fair pavement collection, just to name a few. Federal policies should provide more treason transparency by addressing regulatory burdens in order to invite more innovation and the transit industry. Federal policy should encourage business like operations of Transit Systems. This includes streamlining efficiencies, assessing Current Service needs, maintaining assets and a state of good repair, leveraging resources for procurements and seeking a partnerships with the private sector where appropriate. While there are many challenges ahead, its possible for this committee to work a really appropriation bill that can garner the bipartisan support both here and on the senate floor. I look forward to hearing from each of our Witnesses Today of the priorities of their organizations, and i thank them for their willingness to appear here today. Senator brown . Thank you for calling this hearing, i look forward to working with you to develop a bipartisan transit title, thank you to the witnesses and all you do for Public Transit in this country. Public transportation help the people that we serve reach better jobs and spend a less of their time and money commuting. Hard work should pay off, but for most people, wages are flat. The cost of everything is up, housing, health care, and transportation. We know how transportation is a huge strain on Family Budgets and on their time it can limit job choices, it makes it harder to hold down jobs far from where people live. The average American Household spends 13 of its income on transportation. Low income workers spend more than 20 and 30 of their wages on commuting. We know how an unexpected can devastate families to rely on their ability to get work. 40 american americans cannot afford emergency. Renters spend half their income on rent and we know how so many people live on the edge, so what happens . They lose their job because they cant get to work they get trapped in a cycle of death, people feel trapped there, is not a lot of dignity in a job that your one car breakdown away from losing. High quality Transit Service have them, to and from work to school to a doctors appointment. Its Pretty Simple when you have better, faster Transit Service, more people use it. In columbus the Transit Authority quota designed a bus route and what happened are they had their highest ridership, what i probably comes supported increased ridership in the cleveland avenue corridor. Everyone winds, the cincinnati u. S. Understands that and to fund high ways. In addition to creating more, watts fewer people on the road, those that do have to traffic adore can get to work faster. In Public Transit, it reduces wrinkles gas anishinaabeg the transportation sector, the Fastest Growing source of carbon pollution. We hear about the tradeoff between creating new jobs but Public Transit does both. It reduces emissions about creating new jobs and an operating jobs. The fast act and Public Transportation, but expires at the end of september and they got a backlog repairs has continued to grow, speaking at 99 billion dollars in u. S. Most recent estimate. One of these backlogs . Mean more delays when they break down, the main longer commute, they mean more crowded highways. In cleveland, the rga operates a fleet of 74 rail cars, all of them, every single one of them is more than 34 years old and age to be replaced years ago. Cities like cleveland face sizable repairs and cant be delayed any longer. In addition to providing more funding for repairs, the next transportation bill need to record investment in the bust facilities program, and the low admission replace aging vehicles and began converting their fleets to zero admission technology. We must ensure that fta is processing applications under the Capital Investment grants program fairly and efficiently and in accordance with the law, and adding extra requirements or delaying projects. Every single one will be have investment in american, jobs we need to strengthen requirements, its not complicated. American tax are should be spent on American Products made in america. Safety is always a priority and will improve rail inspections, we should also make sure our transit and we need to have a fair workplace. I look forward to hearing from representatives of our nations transit providers i look forward to hearing for those who can speak to workforce needs, to move the transportation bill forward, they will need to find new funds for the Highway Trust Fund, will continue to work that the mass transit account receives, always as tradition, 20 or more of Highway Trust Fund. Why look forward to working on the transportation bill, housing is also critical infrastructure, and theres much for our committee to do, there are Health Hazards and homes across the country, including lead that we need to combat. We need to create more safe, Affordable Homes and preserve the ones that we have. I have the transportation bill can support opportunities for transit Oriented Residential Development and other development, but we need comprehensive investment in this countrys infrastructure. Housing needs to be part of that investment. Thank you. Thank you senator brown. Todays witnesses are president and chief executive officer of the american Public Transportation association, mr. Patrick mackinnon, president of the American Association of state highway transportation officials. Mr. Scott, executive director of the Community Transportation association of america. Mr. And mortar, Vice President of transportation and infrastructure of the u. S. Chamber of commerce. And mr. Willis, president of the transportation trades department, and welcome to all of you. Your written testimony has been entered into the record. I encourage each of you to wrap up your initial comments by paying attention to the clock and the five minutes. We do have a vote call that will jam us in a little while, i dont know if that will happen or not. But it will stay on time it will help us stay on time. With that, you may proceed. Chairman, Ranking Member brown, and members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to testify today. My name is paul, im the president chief executive officer of the american Public Transportation association known as after, they represent over 1500 public and private sector organizations that touch all areas of Public Transit. We are the voice of Public Transit north america. At the outset, i want to thank you senator jones for your critical leadership in passing the Jones Mcsally amendment to the 2020 transportation appropriation bill, which blocked in automatic 12 , 1. 2 billion dollar reduction for transit agencies across the country, it wouldve affected every agency, we are deeply grateful for your efforts. Americans who by chance rotation, nearly ten billion times each year, with every trip meeting a need or providing an opportunity. Transit is ten times safer than driving an automobile, it saves money, people can save 10,000 dollars a year by writing Public Transit instead of driving. Yet, we still have work to do to provide these benefits and opportunities to more communities. As 45 of Americans Still do not have access to Public Transportation, transit is a job creator, it is a 74 billion dollar in industry that employs some 435,000 employees and supports 7 million private sector jobs. Importantly, 55 of all transit expenditures flow to the private sector. Creating or sustaining 50,000 jobs for every one billion dollar that is invested. Transit is also important for rural access, for people who live in rural areas transit for veterans and people with disabilities is a lifeline, ensuring that access to medical care and other essential appointments can be taken. We have three Top Priorities as part of the reauthorization that i want to share with you. Those priorities are the following, number one, providing 145 billion dollars over six years for Public Transit to fund critical projects that will address the entire state of good repair backlog. And find all the Capital Investment in the pipeline in the next six years. Number two, reestablishing the historical share of 20 Capital Funding for bus and bus facilities, and number three, creating a new ability innovation and Technology Initiative to integrate cutting edge technology, new Service Delivery approaches and Mobility Options in the transit marketplace. To make these necessary investments, pending shortfall and the Highway Trust Fund must be addressed. We support the chamber of commerce proposal to increase the gas tax by 5 a year, for five years. Were also open to any other reasonable bipartisan plan to increase revenue to the high trust fund. As you make these choices, necessary to fund this, bill we urge you to first fix the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund. Second, after you fix the trust fund shortfall, we urge that you increase investment in Public Transportation and that it receives at least 20 of the new revenue. Bold investment in Public Transportation will address our state of good repair needs, 99 billion dollars is the d. O. D. Figured, several years old, that number is growing and likely will continue to grow. Almost one in five transit buses are beyond their useful life and the average days of a rail vehicle as close to 20 years. Transit is also a key link to equity an opportunity, Public Transportation provides a ladder opportunity for millions of americans. One out of five transit users are from households earning less than 50,000 dollars a year. Transit is also a contributor to ensuring cleaner air, as the industry is at the forefront of transitioning to cleaner fuel technologies and feel sources. Currently, more than half of the transit buses use alternative fuels, with more than 70 of those vehicles utilizing hybrid electric technology, and nearly 300 electric buses in Service Today with zero emissions. These are Battery Powered and hatred and field, and many more are on order. A major source of funding throughout the country is through our Capital Investment grand program that is administered by fta. Over the past decade, half of all states have benefited from the project, and the economic benefits are wide ranging, in addition to the critical look of each individual project, there are vehicles, parts, and supplies that are made in american states all across the nation. Part of the supply chain. Currently, there are 50 processes requesting nearly 25 billion in funding. Unfortunately, over the past two decades, both congress and fta have layered additional requirements, resulting in bureaucratic delays. At the strong urges to conduct a zero base review to assess all statutory, regulatory, and administrative requirements. On behalf of after, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you, we look forward to working with you and will be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Mr. Mckinney . Ranking member brought embers of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the future of Public Transportation and the reauthorization of the fast act, im patrick mckenna, ive served as the director of the Missouri Department of transportation, and president of the america association, today its my honor to testify on behalf of the great state of missouri, representing the transportation departments, all 50 states, washington d. C. And puerto rico. Public transportation is a Vital Public Service in urban communities, providing more than 10 million passenger trips annually since 2006. Transit agencies are key providers of the services, and continue to make significant advances and states are able to commit more, and we will see more investment in order to receive this. We wanted to this transportation title that expires at the end of september, id like to emphasize the following priorities. Our vision for authorization, our Core Principles for reauthorization as it relates to federal Public Transportation policy and specific Public Transportation reauthorization policy recommendations. Ensuring the safety of americans using our Service Transportation system remains the foremost priority of each state and 37,000 lives were lost on our nations roadways, Human Behavior is the cause of more than 90 of fatalities and serious incidents each year, but that is a loss of 100 souls a day, and we should all find it is totally unacceptable. This provides 80 form of transportation, havent recorded it for 2018, and thankfully not and missouri. Public transportation delivers more than three billion dollars an economic, hand helps mitigate traffic, sir feel, enhanced highway sufficiency in addresses air quality issues. In october 2019 the board of directors adopted policy recommendations for the next surface transportation authorization bill, to summarize several key points, we must ensure a timely reauthorization hong term federal bills, fix the Highway Trust Fund and an act of long term sustainable revenue solution now, increase in prioritize formula base federal funding, provided by states, increased flexibility, reduce program burdens and improve product delivery, and ensure the ability to harness technology. In missouri, transit operators would like to increase the federal share for the assistance process to 90 , its difficult for rural and specialized transit agencies to meet the local requirements for new vehicles. Theres some key reauthorization from the council on we should support the goals, the public and petition state of goo