; Whereas the Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimates that the average annual cost to own and operate a vehicle is $9,282; Whereas, according to data from the American Community Survey, over 1,000,000 rural households do not have access to a car and are reliant on public transit to access jobs and essential services; Whereas there are 292 counties where at least 10 percent of households do not have access to a car and 56 percent of such households are in rural areas; Whereas local and regional economies rely on the efficient movement of people to jobs and services and public transit, an essential connection for millions of Americans, is critical to moving people efficiently; Whereas data from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act shows that investments in public transit produced 70 percent more job hours than investments in highways, with preventive maintenance, rail car and bus purchase and rehabilitation and infrastructure, as the leading categories of job-creating public transit investments; Whereas research shows that a 10-percent increase in public transit seats per capita results in wage increases between $1,500,000 and $1,800,000,000 per metropolitan area , depending on the size of the region. Whereas companies of all sizes are relocating to walkable and public transit-connected areas to ensure access to a high-quality workforce because such places— (1) are where workers want to be; and (2) reinforce companies’ brand aspirations, bring them in close proximity to their customers and partners, support creativity among their employees, and help such companies live up to high standards of corporate responsibility; Whereas even in smaller communities, research shows that public transit helps business by improving employee retention; Whereas travel by public transit is substantially safer than travel by car, with data showing that rail transit is about 30 times safer and travel by bus is about 60 times safer