Jenniffer González Announces $ 21 Million to WADA to Remedy Coronavirus Emergency

Press Release

The Resident Commissioner, Jenniffer González Colón, announced a new allocation of federal funds totaling $ 21,000,000 destined for the Island from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA, for its acronym in English) to attend the emergency due to the coronavirus under the CARES Act ( Public Law 116-136).

As part of this allocation, the Metropolitan Bus Authority (AMA) will receive $ 21,000,000 in funding from the Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula.

The Urbanized Funding Formula program makes federal resources available to urbanized areas and governors for transit and operational assistance in urbanized areas and for transportation-related planning. An urbanized area is an incorporated area with a population of 50,000 or more designated as such by the Census Bureau.

This item is intended to help with operational, administrative, and preventive maintenance costs to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 emergency. Expenses include payroll, office supplies, utilities, fuel, and preventative maintenance for buses and facilities.

In April, the commissioner had announced $ 168.6 million allocated to the Island on behalf of the FTA for prevention, preparedness and response through the urbanized and rural formula grant programs.

To date, the commissioner has announced over $ 10 billion in federal funds assigned to Puerto Rico to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

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