WASHINGTON, DC – This week, U.S. Senator John Fetterman joined his colleagues, Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Katie Britt (R-AL), to introduce the bipartisan Bus Rolling Stock Modernization Act. The bill would cut red tape and reform the domestic bus manufacturing industry by providing more flexibility for local transit systems when purchasing buses.
Current U.S. standards impose outdated, 40-year-old payment practices on our bus manufacturers and purchasers, which result in unnecessarily high costs. Many domestic bus manufacturers have gone bankrupt or left the market, despite high demand for new vehicles. The Bus Rolling Stock Modernization Act would help fix this problem. The legislation allows bus manufacturers to apply for advanced payments up to 20%, enabling them to invest in the labor and machinery needed to meet demand of transit agencies and keep production costs down.
“My office has heard from countless transit agencies across Pennsylvania—both the largest ones in our cities to smaller ones that serve our rural communities—about how hard it is to acquire new buses,” said Senator Fetterman. “This bill will help change that by giving agencies more flexibility when purchasing buses. Strong transit agencies are critical to making sure our communities are strong. I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan bill that will mean transit agencies across the commonwealth can better serve Pennsylvanians.”
Senator Fetterman is a staunch supporter of public transit and is committed to ensuring that transit agencies across the commonwealth have the resources they need to provide reliable service. He introduced the Transit Emergency Relief Act in October, which would improve the Federal Transit Administration’s Emergency Response Program so that transit agencies can provide emergency-level responses when disaster strikes. He also sent a letter to Transportation Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg urging the agency to continue investing in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) amid a looming transit fiscal cliff. A month later, Fetterman was in Upper Darby, PA to announce a $317 million grant for SEPTA from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
You can find a one-pager on the bill here.