De Blasio, Schumer Ride Subway, Urge Investment In Transportation Trust Fund
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Sen. Charles Schumer are calling for increased federal transportation funding.
They're urging Congress to replenish the federal highway trust fund. Authority to spend money from the trust fund expires May 31.
De Blasio said that the public transportation system and the regional highways are the "lifeline'' for the nation's largest city.
He and Schumer rode the "R'' train to a news conference Thursday -- National Stand Up For Transportation Day -- to demonstrate its importance.
"The bottom line is we need investment if we expect to have a society that works, if we expect to be able to get around, if we expect to be able to get to work," de Blasio said.
De Blasio, Schumer Urge Investment In Transportation Trust Fund
He said the money should be replenished, and ideally increased, in order for "our society to work.''
"There's a whole group of people in Washington, you wouldn't believe this, who don't believe the federal government should fund the system any longer," Schumer said.
Schumer called that "crazy," labeled them a "hard-headed block" and said there is no choice but to replenish the fund, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.
Reductions in revenue from the gas tax have helped create the funding shortfall.
And a transportation bill proposed by President Barack Obama has gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled Congress.
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