U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jack Reed (D-RI) introduced legislation to help the bus and passenger ferry industries Friday as both suffer slowdowns because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) Act of 2020 seeks to provide $10 billion in emergency economic relief for the industries that employ more than 100,000 individuals across the country. The funding would be provided as grants and other economic assistance and would be distributed through the U.D. Department of the Treasury to motorcoach operators, school bus companies, U.S. flag passenger vessel operators, and other transportation service providers.
Collins is the chairman of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, while Reed is the ranking member of the same committee.
“Maine’s bus and motorcoach companies provide good-paying jobs and offer critical transportation service to travelers, schools, sports teams, summer camps, and tour groups. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, these small businesses are struggling,” Collins said. “Additionally, passenger vessel companies in Maine – including ferries and tour boats – are experiencing a similar strain. Our bipartisan legislation will provide additional support for bus operators, passenger vessel operators, and other transportation service providers to help ensure that these critical links in our transportation systems remain strong.”
According to the American Bus Association, the motorcoach industry is a $15 billion a year industry that provided 600 million passenger trips annually before the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the industry is operating at about 15 percent, the ABA said, meaning they’ve had to furlough employees and park more than 36,000 vehicles instead of putting them out on the road.
Officials with the ABA said they anticipate the industry would operate at reduced capacity for some time, at least until a vaccine or other measures eliminate the risk of illness from COVID-19.
“These bus operators provide essential transportation services for millions of Americans. Even as bus operators take a huge hit to their bottom lines, many of these companies have been on the front lines of COVID-19 response, carrying health care workers and other essential personnel where they are needed,” Reed said. “These companies rely on a dedicated, skilled, and regulated workforce of nearly 90,000 people. If the federal government fails to act, it will be hard to jumpstart the economy when demand for transportation revs back up. The road to economic recovery for these businesses is already long and steep, and in order to get our economy working again, the federal government needs to extend assistance to this critical link in our transportation network.”
More than 30 organizations came together to support the bill.
In a letter to Congressional leaders, the groups led by the ABA, the United Motorcoach Association, the Passenger Vessel Association, the National School Transportation Association and the Amalgamated Transit Union, called for Congress to support the legislation and to include it in any following COVID-19 relief packages.