Following President Joe Biden’s press conference on the bipartisan infrastructure framework, the American Bus Association (ABA) – the industry leader advancing North American motorcoach travel and tourism – made the following statement:
We all agree that there needs to be an investment in infrastructure, and we applaud Congress and the White House working together on a bipartisan path forward to bringing an infrastructure bill one step closer.
Motorcoaches remain the most environmentally friendly form of passenger transportation, serving customers from all walks of life and especially those who can least afford other transportation options. The motorcoach industry could save the American people billions of dollars if the government just invested in the survival of the motorcoach industry, instead of trying to lay train tracks across the country to places buses already economically and equitably serve.
The private motorcoach industry, which pre-pandemic served 600 million passengers, has been struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. With more than 80 percent of its workforce laid off and more than 25 percent of going out of business, the motorcoach industry has been the only passenger transportation industry ignored in this latest proposal. Nearly 800 small, family-owned motorcoach companies have stopped operating, many more will shutter without additional funding from Congress.
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