Political Quotes

“Our Nation is in the midst of a transportation and infrastructure crisis. In California alone, we have over 2,500 structurally deficient bridges in dire need of repair. Current investments into transportation infrastructure are barely able to cover our Nation's most pressing needs, and critical projects in my district are the foundation of our growing economy. That is why in 2009 Congress created the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant program, known as TIGER. TIGER grants have successfully funded projects to revitalize and expand infrastructure across the country. A grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was to provide roughly 50 percent of the funding needed to upgrade the SunLine Transit Agency's operations management system in my district. These upgrades allowed SunLine to integrate vehicle location technology, scheduling systems, and automatic passenger counters into their Web site to provide riders with a gateway for simple information, like when the next bus is going to arrive and if it will have room for passengers, which is important for my constituents to reduce wait times outside in our desert heat. This technology has improved ridership, taken vehicles off the road, reducing our carbon footprint. There are other projects in my district that could receive TIGER funding should we adequately fund it.…”