APTA joins the nation in mourning the loss of former President George H. W. Bush, who died Nov. 30 at age 94.
President Bush signed the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, which banned workplace discrimination against people with disabilities and required improved access to public places and transportation. With the passage of ADA, Bush said “every man, woman and child with a disability can now pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence and freedom.”
Bush also signed the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). At the time, he called it the “most important transportation bill since President Eisenhower started the Interstate System 35 years ago." He said the bill was an “investment in America's economic future, for an efficient transportation system is absolutely essential for a productive and efficient economy."
ISTEA provided authorizations for public transit and highways and gave significant additional powers to metropolitan planning organizations. ISTEA was followed by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) in 1998; the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) in 2005; the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) in 2012; and the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act in 2015.