U.S. Rep. Marie Newman
Newman notes fund infusion for Metra
From staff reports
U.S. Rep. Marie Newman (D-3rd) recently announced that she has helped secure a $513.6 million award of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (Metra).
U.S. Rep. Marie Newman
The new funds are intended to help transit agencies around the country maintain service and keep workers on the payroll as communities continue to recover from the pandemic.
“For nearly four decades, Metra has carried millions of commuters across the Chicagoland region and our Southwest Side,” Newman said. “As a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, I am proud to have helped secure this critical funding for one of our state’s most reliable transportation systems. With this new grant, we’re not only avoiding layoffs and keeping our workers on the job, but also ensuring that our constituents can continue to rely on the same public transit that they have for years now.”
Metra employs approximately 2,600 workers who provided nearly 17 million trips throughout the Chicago metro area in 2020. The ARP funds will allow Metra to continue providing a low-carbon transportation service to the region’s 8.6 million residents.
The funding is part of more than $30 billion for public transportation in the American Rescue Plan Act signed into law by President Biden last March. The funding comes from the $26.6 billion allocated by statutory formulas to urban and rural areas, Tribal governments, and for the enhanced mobility of seniors and individuals with disabilities.
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