McKinney Announces 2002 Transportation Appropriations
November 30, 2001
(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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