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Investing in public transportation would provide jobs in sectors that have been hardest hit by the recession, according to a report released yesterday by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

Prepared for APTA by the Economic Development Research Group, "Job Impacts of Spending on Public Transportation: An Update" states that two-thirds of the jobs created by capital investment in the public transit industry would replace lost blue-collar jobs with "green jobs" in the public transit sector, in areas such as manufacturing, service, repair, operations and construction.

In addition, 33 percent of the new jobs created by public transit investment fall into the "white-collar skilled" group — clerical, managerial and technical engineering positions.

For every $1 billion invested in public transportation, 30,000 jobs are created in a variety of sectors, the report states. Based on that formula, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which provides $8.4 billion for public transit projects, will create about 252,000 jobs. The report was released at the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, "Recovery Act: 10-week Progress Report for Transportation and Infrastructure Programs," which was held yesterday.