HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed legislation to provide historic funding for public transportation.

The Public Transportation Trust Fund Transfer Act, authored by state Rep. Ed Neilson, chair of the House Transportation Committee, would invest nearly $300 million into mass transit funding for all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

“Throughout Pennsylvania, including cities, suburbs and rural areas, more than 1 million people use public transportation every day. This is the most significant transit funding increase in over a decade, and no one will see an increase in their taxes. With an additional $500 million in funding to repair roads and bridges, this comprehensive bill will bolster Pennsylvania’s transportation infrastructure in a way that benefits us all,” said Neilson, D-Philadelphia.

This funding aligns with Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal in that the sales tax will not increase but the existing amount of money already allocated to public transit funding will increase from 4.4% to 6.15%. It would also drive a total of $1.5 billion to public transit over the next five years.

“This will help transit agencies avoid the worst-case scenarios of major service cuts and fare increases, allow roughly 39,000 people employed by public transit agencies to remain gainfully employed and continue moving hundreds of thousands of workers to and from their jobs,” he said.

“Public transit, both directly and indirectly, is a major contributor to our state’s economy; every dollar invested in transit, returns $5 to our economy. Through suppliers, vendors and industries that support public transit, thousands of jobs are indirectly impacted by funding public transit,” Neilson added.

The Public Transportation Trust Fund Transfer Act would reallocate the money the state already collects to better invest in transit systems across the commonwealth and help repair and maintain Pennsylvania’s massive network of roads and bridges.

“This issue affects all of Pennsylvania, it’s not just the cities – this is a win for us all,” Neilson said.

The bill also would allow the governor to form a Transportation Funding Advisory Commission to produce a comprehensive, strategic funding proposal by Jan. 1.

The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.