(WASHINGTON) Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) is pleased to announce the passage of the Fiscal Year 2002 Transportation Appropriations Bill, which included funding for numerous projects in the Fourth Congressional District of Georgia and metro Atlanta. "As transportation, congestion and air quality have become hallmark issues in our region, I am pleased that we have new and increased resources to continue addressing and tackling these problems," said Congresswoman McKinney.

The Transportation Appropriations Bill, which totals $59.6 billion dollars and is $1.5 billion greater than the previous year's funding level, includes $33 billion for highway programs, $6.7 billion for mass transit, and $13.3 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration. Funds for the Fourth Congressional District and metro Atlanta include: $6 million for the purchase of new natural-gas powered buses for Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA); $1 million for Intelligent Transportation Systems to be administered by the Georgia Regional Transit Authority (GRTA) in metro Atlanta; $1 million to the Atlanta Regional Commission for reverse commute and job access planning; $500,000 to Gwinnett County for an operations and maintenance bus facility; $6,000,000 to GRTA for express buses; and $400,000 for a partnership program between GRTA and the California Association of Governments for the purpose of transit trip planning. Additionally, MARTA is the recipient of $25 million for completion of its North Line extension, and the bill contains language authorizing construction of noise barriers on the west side of I-285 from Henderson Mill Road to Chamblee-Tucker Road in DeKalb County.

"These appropriations represent true progress in improving people's quality of life - from noise barriers to clean fuel buses - these resources will improve air quality, reduce congestion, improve planning in our region and will generally make life in DeKalb better," McKinney continued.

Also of note in the transportation funding bill is $150 million in nationwide civil air security, $1.25 billion for the new multi-modal Transportation Security Administration, and funding for expansion, upgrades and improvements at Hartsfield International Airport. "While this bill represents improvements on the ground and addresses traffic, I am proud to support a bill that correctly provides resources to improve security and safety at small airports such as Peachtree-DeKalb Airport in addition to large ones like Hartsfield airport," Representative McKinney concluded.

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