MEDIA ALERT: U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey to Visit Arlington Handitran Office to Discuss Legislation to Protect Transit Services

**MEDIA ADVISORY**

Arlington, TX – On Thursday, April 2, 2015, Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, will meet with officials from the City of Arlington to discuss H.R. 1645, the Transportation for Elderly and Disabled Individuals Act, that would reinstate an allowance for cities such as Arlington, Grand Prairie, and Mesquite, Texas to use federal transit funding for operation and maintenance costs for transit services for the elderly and disabled.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

WHAT:
U.S. Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, will meet with officials from the City of Arlington and ride a Handitran route to discuss newly introduced legislation to continue transit operation in Texas.

WHEN:
Thursday, April 2, 2015 at 9am CT

WHERE:
Handitran Office
1101 W. Main Street
Arlington, TX

MEDIA:
This event is open to the press, but you must RSVP to attend. To RSVP, please contact Nelly Decker at the Office of Congressman Veasey at 202-225-9897 or at nelly.decker@mail.house.gov or Reggie Lewis, City of Arlington Office of Communications at Reginald.Lewis@arlingtontx.gov.

BACKGROUND:
Historically, a major source of assistance for small paratransit operators came from the Urbanized Area Transit Formula Grant. However, an oversight in the 2012 legislation known as the Moving Ahead for Press in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) eliminated this source of funding for some small paratransit operators but did not include an alternative to address the resulting gap. U.S. Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, introduced H.R. 1645, the Transportation for Elderly and Disabled Individuals Act to correct this oversight. Specifically, the Act would authorize small general public demand response service operators in large urbanized areas to use Section 5307 funds for operating assistance.