WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two senior U.S. House Democrats on Friday asked the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve to direct at least $5 billion in loans to struggling over-the-road bus companies because of the coronavirus pandemic.
House Ways and Means Committee chairman Richard Neal and Transportation Committee chairman Peter DeFazio said between 80 and 95% of current motorcoach trips have been canceled or are not being booked and scheduled service operations are down 80-90% and over 3,000 companies are affected. “If bus companies go out of business, hundreds of thousands of travelers who rely on buses to get to their jobs and reach vital services, intermodal connections and educational facilities, especially in rural America, risk losing what may be their only means of transportation,” they wrote.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
