US House Transportation Panel delves into COVID concerns

From Transport Topics.

The new year means a new session of Congress and the opportunity to achieve reforms across the federal landscape.

To do so, lawmakers point to the need to push ahead on a resolution to the coronavirus pandemic. This week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee scheduled a hearing to assess the pandemic’s impact on the country’s mobility networks, and potential solutions to ongoing problems.

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the panel’s chairman, explained he intends to examine gaps in safety practices pertaining to passengers and the transportation workforce during the national health crisis.

“As our nation mourns the loss of more than 430,000 Americans to COVID-19, transportation workers around the country continue to show up for work to drive buses and trains, ensure the safety of passengers on airplanes, move freight by truck, ship, rail and air, and repair roads and bridges — all to keep our communities and economy moving,” DeFazio said in a statement to Transport Topics. “That includes truck drivers, who are vital to keeping grocery stores stocked with supplies and transporting personal protective equipment, or PPE, and other medical equipment, including life-saving vaccines, throughout the country during the pandemic.”

See the complete article from Transport Topics online.