News Releases

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) – members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation – today introduced the Small Community Transit Improvement Act. This bipartisan legislation would increase the efficiency and capacity of public transportation in communities with populations between 50,000 and 200,000.

“In communities across Kansas and the country, public transportation provides a critical service in helping individuals get to work, healthcare services and more,” said. Sen. Moran. “By building on the successful Small Transit Intensive Cities Program, our sensible legislation would make certain that high-performing public transit systems in smaller urban and suburban communities have the same access to federal resources as their more populous peers. I look forward to working with stakeholders in Kansas and my colleagues in the Senate to continue developing public transportation opportunities and get this bill across the finish line.”

“Investing in Arizona’s public transportation system will create jobs and expand opportunities for the city,” said Sen. Sinema. “I’ll keep partnering with Arizona communities to support critical infrastructure investments.”

"On behalf of CTAA's more than 140 small-urban transit provider members across the country, we applaud Senators Moran and Sinema for their leadership in introducing bipartisan legislation to increase the STIC program set-aside from two to three percent," said CTAA Executive Director Scott Bogren in a letter of support. "This performance-based approach to transit investment incentivizes small-urban systems to enhance service availability and effectiveness, thereby generating more riders and delivering crucial outcomes in their communities, including accessing jobs, health care, education, veterans services and so much more. We encourage the full Congress to support this important legislation."

The Small Transit Intensive Cities (STIC) Program is an existing and successful Federal Transit Administration (FTA) program that rewards high transit performance by providing funds to small-urban transit providers. The populations of these communities are between 50,000 and 200,000 and the resources are based on meeting at least one of six measurable performance criteria established annually by the average service levels of larger public transit agencies.

There are eight Kansas communities that fall within the population threshold including Overland Park, Kansas City, Olathe, Topeka, Lawrence, Shawnee, Lenexa and Manhattan. Whenever a public transit agency exceeds the average service level of a large transit agency, it is rewarded with additional federal transit investment. This funding has allowed smaller transit systems to fund projects that increase the efficiency and capacity of public transportation nationwide.

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