New report highlights how funding public transit in Alabama gets people to work, reduces workforce shortage and fuels economic development

Birmingham, Ala. – On June 25, Alabama Arise and the Institute for Policy Studies released a vital new report, “Alternate Route: New Pathways to Better Jobs in Alabama Through Public Transit.”

As the new analysis highlights, right now Alabama lawmakers are missing a critical tool to address the workforce shortage and bring enough people into the job market to remain competitive with surrounding states.

Public transit plays a crucial role in connecting people to jobs, especially in places where lack of reliable access to a motor vehicle makes it virtually impossible to find and keep employment.

The report reveals successful local transit measures, highlights statewide challenges and reinforces the vital need for federal funding for transit initiatives.

“You can’t get and keep a job if you can’t afford to get to work,” said Robyn Hyden, executive director of Alabama Arise. “Public transportation boosts community connection and helps ensure people can get where they need to go in a timely way. This report shows how state funding for public transportation would create jobs and increase economic opportunity for people across Alabama. It’s time for our lawmakers to get off the sidelines and make this essential investment in a better future for the people of our state.”

“Lack of access to public transit should not be a barrier to securing a job in Alabama,” said Marc Bayard, associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. “Our report shows how vital investments in public transit in Alabama can address the workforce shortage and boost economic opportunity, meaning more Alabama workers can get to and from more jobs. It’s a win-win scenario for state lawmakers and for ordinary workers who rely on transit access in the most auto-dependent state in the nation.” 

Key findings include:

• If the Alabama Legislature invested just $25 million in state appropriations for public transit, these funds would leverage up to another $100 million in federal funding to support local transit.
• New direct investment from federal transit dollars would ripple across the state’s economy, creating 2,561 new jobs, improving workers’ paychecks by a combined $120 million and generating $207 million in new GDP.
• Alabama’s workforce shortage grew from 80,000 unfilled jobs in 2024 to 105,000 in 2025 — a missing workforce nearly equal to the entire population of Tuscaloosa.
• The Lieutenant Governor’s Commission on the 21st Century Workforce pointed to lack of accessible transportation as a significant barrier to closing the state’s workforce shortage.
• Alabama is the most auto-dependent state in the nation. Without adequate public transit alternatives, people in Alabama’s rural communities and big-city neighborhoods will miss out on job opportunities due to lack of transportation options.
• Not enough working-age people in Alabama are able to find a job or even enter the workforce. Alabama’s ultra-low labor force participation rate of 57.3% remains significantly lower than the national average of 62.3% (April 2026), ranking 47th out of 50 states nationally.
• A majority of the state’s labor force participation and employment are concentrated in a handful of the state’s urban areas.
• One of the unique challenges Alabama faces in expanding public transit resources to connect people with job opportunities is that state law prohibits use of gas tax dollars to fund public transit. Meanwhile, the Legislature has neither invested any state dollars in transit funding, nor leveraged available federal funds.
• Lack of transit funding has hit rural Alabama the hardest. Nearly 30% of the state’s rural population lost access to intercity transportation between 2005 and 2010. Intra-city bus lines in Alabama still exist, but rural access to cities is limited, and transit within rural communities is even more limited.

Among key policy recommendations, the report urges Alabama lawmakers to:

• Commit $25 million in statewide funds for public transit, which can be used to secure $100 million in federal grant matches.
• Distribute transit dollars equitably across Alabama — especially in rural counties.
• Ensure that statewide transit funding via the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is distributed equitably among local transit agencies.
• Distribution should account for needs based on deferred maintenance, ridership, and local population utility, including education, healthcare, and ability to connect to other services and activities of daily life.
• Give local communities and transit authorities control over funding they receive.
• Tailor expenditure of transit funds at the discretion of each individual agency to reflect each area’s needs.
• Ensure new transit jobs are good jobs, with living wages, health insurance, retirement savings, and other key benefits.

Read the full report: https://ips-dc.org/report-alternate-route-new-pathways-to-better-jobs-in-alabama-through-public-transit

An earlier report released by Alabama Arise and the Institute for Policy Studies, “Homecoming: The Greater Birmingham Community Speaks on Regional Cooperation and a More Inclusive Economy,” analyzed the results of a professional survey about the critical issues that impact residents of the greater Birmingham area. The report found two-thirds of survey respondents identified transportation — especially the lack of public transit—as the top challenge facing the Birmingham region, one of the country’s most auto-dependent metro areas.

Press contacts:

Matt Okarmus, Alabama Arise, matt@alarise.org 

Olivia Alperstein, Institute for Policy Studies, olivia@ips-dc.org

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Alabama Arise is a statewide, member-led nonprofit organization advancing public policies to improve the lives of Alabamians who are marginalized by poverty. Arise’s membership includes faith-based, community, nonprofit and civic groups, grassroots leaders and individuals from across Alabama.

The Institute for Policy Studies has served for over sixty years as a leading multi-issue research organization that provides key fact-based support for bold policy solutions to urgent issues, including rising income inequality, public transit access, and anti-poverty solutions. Highlights from IPS’s programs and research can be found on Facebook, Twitter/X, Bluesky, and Instagram.