Testimony of Paul P. Skoutelas, American Public Transportation Association — July 29, 2021

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Testimony of Paul P. Skoutelas, President and CEO of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), dated July 29, 2021, for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing on the federal government's COVID-19 relief and response efforts and their impact. It says APTA members directly employ 450,000 transit workers and that 487 transit workers have been lost to COVID. According to a recent APTA survey, almost one-half of public transit agencies (44 percent) said COVID-19 emergency funding helped them avoid a complete shutdown of service, and most said it helped them avoid layoffs (77 percent) and furloughs (79 percent). The testimony says public transit agencies have obligated 98 percent of CARES Act funding and more than one-third of CRRSAA funds.

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         Testimony of Paul P. Skoutelas
                    President and CEO
American Public Transportation Association




Hearing On “Assessing the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Relief and Response
                            Efforts and its Impact”

                               July 29, 2021
                                               Introduction
Chairman DeFazio, Ranking Member Graves, and Members of the Committee on Transportation

and Infrastructure, on behalf of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and its

public- and private-sector member organizations that directly employ 450,000 transit workers

and support several million private-sector jobs, thank you for the opportunity to testify on

“Assessing the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Relief and Response Efforts and its Impact”.



My name is Paul Skoutelas, and I am the President and Chief Executive Officer of APTA, an

international association representing all modes of public transportation—bus, paratransit, light

rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne services, and high-performance intercity passenger

rail.1 I am pleased to have the opportunity to discuss how public transit agencies have used

federal COVID-19 emergency funding during the ongoing pandemic.


              Transit’s Essential Role During the Pandemic
Transit has always been an essential service, providing mobility options for Americans,

supporting economic growth, improving the environment, making our roads safer for drivers and

pedestrians, and serving critical roles during natural disasters and other emergencies. When the

COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of every American, transit served as an essential

lifeline. Public transportation systems brought healthcare professionals to the frontlines,

delivered groceries and medicine to at-risk populations, and connected essential workers to their

places of work. Some agencies even provided exceptional services such as delivering COVID-19



1
 APTA members include public transportation systems; planning, design, construction, and finance firms; product
and service providers; academic institutions; state transit associations; and state departments of transportation.
                                                         2
tests or retrofitting buses into Wi-Fi hotspots to help students who would otherwise have

difficulty accessing remote learning.



Given official declarations to close businesses and impose stay-at-home orders, as well as other

measures such as a dramatic increase in remote work, public transit agencies across the nation

faced severe ridership declines and state and local revenue losses. Public transportation

continued to serve our communities despite significantly increased operating costs and

dramatically reduced sources of funding, including fares and other revenues. In most places, fare

collection was suspended for safety reasons. State and local transit funding was diverted to

address other COVID-related needs. Most significantly, transit workers served as heroes on the

front lines. The public transit industry directly employs 450,000 workers, and I would be remiss

if I did not mention the significant toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on transit agencies’

frontline employees—487 transit workers have been lost to COVID.



We thank Congress for recognizing transit’s essential role by passing emergency legislation to

provide significant support for transit operating costs that was essential for the very survival of

many agencies. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the

Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), and the

American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) each provided critical support for public transportation.

COVID relief funds helped stabilize agency budgets, which allowed them to continue their

capital and construction programs, maintain jobs, and help the economy recover.




                                                  3
According to a recent APTA survey, almost one-half of public transit agencies (44 percent)

stated that COVID-19 emergency funding helped them avoid a complete shutdown of service. In

addition, the overwhelming majority of agencies said that COVID-19 funding helped them avoid

layoffs (77 percent) and furloughs (79 percent).2



In addition, COVID-19 relief funding has enabled public transit agencies to ramp up service as

people start traveling more and return to offices. Today, two-thirds of public transit agencies (65

percent) are operating at 75 percent or more of their pre-pandemic service levels.3



Emergency federal funding was vital to keeping public transportation systems operating, but this

does not mean those dollars were used to simply maintain pre-pandemic functions. Transit

agencies pivoted to address urgent needs during the pandemic, such as:



    o Redesigning routes and revising schedules to better serve riders who most heavily rely on

        transit.



    o Keeping transit workers on the job, often deploying employees in different jobs that had

        become priorities due to COVID-19.




2
  APTA Policy Brief, Covid Relief Funding Critical to Transit Survival (APTA Policy Brief) (July 2021), at 2. This
survey was conducted of APTA transit agency members in July 2021. One hundred thirty-six (136) members
responded to the survey, with those agencies carrying more than three-quarters of U.S. transit ridership.
3
  Id. at 1.
                                                        4
       o Reallocating resources to ensure essential workers—such as front-line responders, health

            care employees, pharmacists, hospital staff, grocery store clerks, and community service

            providers—could reach their places of employment.



       o Delivering meals and critical supplies to those without resources and carrying individuals

            with chronic health issues to life-saving treatments.



       o Ensuring that vaccines were available to transit employees as soon as they were eligible,

            and providing free, convenient travel to vaccination sites for the general public.


Transit agencies are investing these emergency funds in services that are absolutely vital in their

communities. To date, public transit agencies have obligated 98 percent of CARES Act funding.

Transit agencies have also obligated more than one-third of CRRSAA funds and have begun to

obligate ARP funds. According to APTA’s survey, one-half of responding agencies (51 percent)

expect to exhaust all of their COVID-19 relief funds by January 2023 and the vast majority of

agencies (82 percent) expect to expend all of their funds within the following year.4



There should be no doubt that COVID-19 emergency funding was critical to the survival of

transit service during the pandemic. Agencies that responded to our survey had this to say about

the impact of COVID emergency funding:




4
    Id at. 3.
                                                     5
   o “COVID relief funding has prevented the outright cancelation of our commuter bus

       program. It has also been a valuable tool to pay front-line staff to self-isolate/quarantine

       when they showed symptoms of COVID. As a result, we have had no outbreaks amongst

       staff that have been tied to work.”



   o “The biggest benefit we saw was the preservation/continuation of employment and pay

       for our employees and contract teams, and the provision of essential service to our

       community (especially essential workers).”



   o “COVID-related funding has been a major factor in being able to pay for PPE, purchase

       of ion electric cleaners, driver compartment plexiglass barriers, adding bus/facility

       cleaners for heightened cleaning to keep our employees and the public as safe as

       possible.”


Finally, one agency summed it up as follows: “Receiving the CARES, CRRSAA, and ARP

monies literally saved our region’s public transportation system.”



APTA members have also done their part in ensuring that their systems were ready to welcome

passengers back, as detailed below.



          APTA Safety & Health Commitments Program
At the outset of the pandemic, APTA members established a Mobility Recovery & Restoration

Task Force, which developed a Health & Safety Commitments Program for public transportation


                                                 6
agencies to implement in their own communities. The goal was simple: control the spread of

COVID-19, keep the riding public and our own workers healthy and safe, and win back public

trust. The APTA program consists of four commitments to specific practices and policies for

both transit agencies and transit users to follow:




                                                     7
8
More than 200 public transit agencies participate in this program, helping to protect millions of

people every day.



Keeping buses on streets and trains on rails—where and when they were needed most—was our

mission, but we also needed to make sure these operations were safe for passengers and transit

employees.



As a result of our agencies’ concerted efforts, ridership continues to climb, albeit slowly.

According to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), some smaller transit systems are

reporting ridership nearing 80 percent or more of pre-pandemic levels.5 This is a positive

development to see riders return as public transit is essential for economic recovery and the

nation’s well-being.



               Transit Agencies Helping Vaccinate Americans
Public transportation agencies and organizations are helping people get to COVID-19

vaccination sites by providing free rides, and in some cases, transit facilities have become

vaccination clinics. These efforts have been made possible because of federal emergency funding

provided to the public transit industry. There are countless examples of transit agencies going

above and beyond the call of duty to help in the vaccination effort, and I will describe a few here.




5
    See FTA Press Release, Americans Riding Public Transportation in Greater Numbers (July 21, 2021).
                                                         9
The Tri-State Transit Authority (TTA) (Huntington, WV) has partnered with the Cabell-

Huntington Health Department to provide free rides to and from any vaccine clinic in Cabell

County, available on any TTA bus or dial-a-ride service.



The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) (Jacksonville, FL) partnered with a non-profit

health center to provide “Wellness on Wheels”, a mobile vaccination service to bring the

COVID-19 vaccine directly to seniors and at-risk citizens throughout Jacksonville, specifically

targeting areas where there are gaps in health equity.



In May, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) reported that its state’s

transit systems had taken more than 8,500 residents to vaccine appointments. It credited federal

COVID-19 emergency funds for enabling 82 North Carolina transit agencies to provide rides to

vaccine sites.6



The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) (San Jose, CA) offered free rides on its

buses and light rail to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, which hosted a mass vaccination site. VTA

also increased the frequency of seven bus routes to help relieve the impact of passenger pass-ups

due to limited capacity necessitated by the requirements to social distance. The agency also




6
  According to NCDOT, “Since January, NCDOT and NCDHHS have been administering $2.5 million in
Coronavirus Relief Funding to local transit agencies in every county. The funds are being used to offset the
operating costs associated with transit rides to and from vaccination sites for people who are receiving or assisting
someone in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. To date, 82 transit agencies have reported using the federal funds to
take people to and from vaccine sites in North Carolina. Those agencies have traveled more than 100,000 miles to
take people to vaccine appointments.”
https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2021/05-11-2021-transit-agencies-8500-vaccine-sites.aspx
                                                          10
reimplemented rear-door boarding for buses and suspended the collection of fares systemwide

for the time being.



Again, there are countless other examples of transit agencies supporting their communities in this

way, and the work is ongoing across the country.



       Transit’s Essential Role in Rebuilding our Economy
As the nation emerges from the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, transit is poised to

be a key driver of building a 21st century transportation system that will support economic

recovery, address equity and climate change, and increase our global competitiveness. Today,

ridership continues to climb. That trend is expected to continue as Americans return to offices

and become more comfortable resuming normal activities.


I again express our deep gratitude for the federal COVID-19 emergency funding that supported

operations during a time that posed an existential threat to public transit. While the COVID-19

emergency support was designed to support the operating budgets of transit agencies,7 we look

forward to continuing to work with Congress to invest in transit capital programs. APTA

strongly supports the INVEST in America Act, which makes critical investments to surface

transportation infrastructure, including $109 billion for public transportation and $100 billion for

commuter rail, Amtrak, and other high-performance rail.




7
 According to APTA’s July 2021 survey, 90 percent of transit agencies have used their COVID emergency funding
exclusively or mostly for operations.
                                                     11
Importantly, the INVEST in America Act puts us on the path to increase access to opportunities

for all Americans and build more equitable communities. It also addresses the environmental and

sustainability challenges facing our communities, nation, and the world. The bill reflects key

pillars of APTA’s Surface Transportation Authorization Recommendations,8 addressing the $105

billion state-of-good-repair backlog and providing the necessary investment to meet growing

demand by funding all projects in the Capital Investment Grant pipeline.


We believe the INVEST in America Act is a vital and necessary step to provide the

transformational investment in infrastructure the country so desperately needs to recover from

the COVID-19 pandemic and thrive in the future.




                                             Conclusion
On behalf of APTA, thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify about the tremendous

work that transit agencies have been doing throughout this pandemic. Public transit will continue

to be essential for our economic recovery. We stand ready to work with you on an infrastructure

initiative and other issues related to public transportation.




8
  In October 2019, the APTA Board of Directors adopted APTA’s Recommendations on Surface Transportation
Law. The Recommendations detail a funding proposal and programmatic reforms that will create or sustain more
than two million jobs.
                                                      12


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