broaden federal funding for public transportation infrastructure to include operational costs along with capital costs.

Public Transportation organizations across the country are hamstrung with the hook on federal funding to only be spent on capital improvements like buying buses. Without driver's to drive them, without mechanics to fix them, without fuel to power them, without the very tires they roll on, what good is a bus to the public? Gas taxes fund the DOT and with the increase in fuel costs it's becoming even more cost prohibitive than it was before to operate coaches at the city/county level without support from the federal budget. While tax breaks are given to US automakers, public entities that provide public transportation are shrinking making the nation's collective traffic more and more snarled. Instead of spending money on infrastructure improvements, let's use what we have more efficiently!