Richard Shelby: “the funding level in this amendment is based on many things, and I will tell you about it. In fiscal year 2006, we were…”

“the funding level in this amendment is based on many things, and I will tell you about it. In fiscal year 2006, we were planning to have the Public Transportation Terrorism Prevention Act that would have provided a total of $1.166 billion for public transportation security grants based on risk. It provides for grants for capital infrastructure improvements, for public transportation systems, as well as operational costs for drills and training and research funding. Everything--cameras, dogs, and you might go further with it. We have taken necessary and prudent steps toward protecting our air travel from terrorism--we hope. We made strides toward hardening our aviation systems and making them less vulnerable to attack. Now I believe is the time to do the same for public transportation. In 2004, the last year that data was available, over 9.6 billion passenger trips were taken on buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation. The American Public Transportation Association estimates that over 14 million Americans ride on public transportation each weekday. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that another 25 million use public transportation less frequently but on a regular basis. Securing public transportation presents many challenges. We know that. The public transportation system includes over 100,000 miles of rail, almost 1,000 train and subway stations, and 60,000 buses.…”