APTA: Transit investment falloff hurts business

A study released Wednesday by the American Public Transportation Association says 74% of private sector businesses serving the public transit industry incurred flat or declining business during the past year, which APTA attributes to uncertainty in federal investment, a struggling economy, and a lack of investment on the state and local level.

Of those reporting a decrease in business, the average decrease was 25%.

The study, “Impacts of the Recession on Public Transportation Businesses,” reached out to APTA private sector business members serving the public transportation industry. It found that 56% say they lost business from their public transportation clients and 52% of businesses say they expect to lay off employees or cut back hiring as a result. In addition, 17% say they may have to shift operations and business development to other countries.

The “Impacts of the Recession on Public Transportation Business” surveyed 800 of APTA’s business members with an above average response rate of 16%, and was conducted in the spring.

“This is further evidence that tells us now is the time to invest in our public transit infrastructure to create jobs and boost our economy,” said APTA President William Millar. “Cutting money to public transit systems simply means the loss of jobs and most of which are in the private sector.”

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering further cuts to federal investment in public transportation of more than 35%, APTA said. According to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, these proposed cuts could lead to the loss of 141,000 jobs.

APTA says 74% list uncertainty due to delay in federal authorization as having a negative impact on business revenue and 67% of respondents name the current weakness of the U.S. economy as having a negative effect on their business revenue.