COVID relief bill provides $30 billion for public transit

A $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill received final approval from Congress Wednesday and with it comes a $30 billion lifeline for public transit.

Even before the House of Representatives OK'd the package, Next City was touting the plan, calling it a "life preserver thrown to the nation’s public transit agencies, whose budgets have been blown to bits in the wake of steep ridership losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

The dollars will help aid several Bay Area transit agencies, which have seen ridership fall off dramatically in the last year. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law later this week.

MTC has formed a Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force to address the financial issues local transit agencies face.