John Sarbanes: “I think all of us owe a significant measure of appreciation to the chairman of the committee for his efforts interacting…”

“I think all of us owe a significant measure of appreciation to the chairman of the committee for his efforts interacting with the chairman of the Budget Committee to find additional money for transit programs. In other words, a real effort was made here to get more money into the transit programs to help address the various needs of people. Secondly, on the fixed guideways, the committee itself, in consultation with the public transit groups across the country, made an adjustment in the workings of that formula so it is not as though we are oblivious to some of the problems that have been raised here on the floor. We try to make adjustments to take care of them. Thirdly, it is very important to understand that about three-quarters of the riders are in those cities. So there is a relationship between where you are putting the money and where the ridership is. This gets complicated because more and more cities now want to come on line with transit systems. The additional money that the chairman and those of us working with him have been able to gain for the transit programs will help to make that possible.”