House bill aims to expand public transit service nationwide

GA’s Rep Hank Johnson introduces grant program that would ramp up public transit frequency and availability

Environment Georgia

ATLANTA — In an effort to improve public transit service for riders across the country, Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia introduced a bill Tuesday that would put billions of federal dollars toward local transit operations. This bill, titled “Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act,” creates a new grant program designed to increase the frequency and hours of public transit service nationwide.

In response, Jennette Gayer, Environment Georgia’s director released the following statement:

“Transportation is now the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in our country. We need to transform our country’s transportation to clean up our air, protect our climate and make transit service work better for everyone. We thank Representative Johnson for working to support our nation’s transit agencies.”

“While the adoption of electric vehicles will be crucial to our success, we need to go beyond simply putting a battery in all of our personal cars if we are going to transform our country’s transportation system. To do this, we need to reduce the need to drive by expanding and electrifying public transit service so that the easiest, cheapest and most pleasant ways to travel are also the healthiest and most sustainable.”