For decades Alabama has not funded public transportation, bill aims to end that (al.com)
Updated Feb 6; Posted Feb 6
By John Sharp
jsharp@al.com
For more than two decades, Kimble Forrister has looked for ways to steer any amount of state funding toward public transportation.
It's been a futile attempt, and Alabama has long remained in dubious company as one of only five states that does not provide any state money for public transportation.
But thanks to a tip Forrister said he got from "an insider" with the Alabama Department of Transportation, a new strategy emerged. And on Tuesday, Forrister and a group of Alabama Arise advocates stood next to two lawmakers during a statehouse news conference to push for the creation of the Alabama Public Transportation Trust Fund.
"We know that both rural and urban areas need public transportation funding," said Forrister, state coordinator with Alabama Arise, the non-profit which advocates for low-income families. "Unfortunately, this is an area where we have not gone forward, we've gone backward. Public transportation is the future."
The trust fund, if created through legislative action, would be established to accept federal transportation grants and other appropriations to expand public transit options statewide.
***
more: http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2018/02/alabama_arise_state_lawmakers.html
