WASHINGTON — Trump administration proposals to eliminate two sources of federal funding for mass transit have drawn sharp criticism from two transit advocacy groups.
The proposals were reported by Politico Pro on Nov. 14 in a paywalled article, citing internal Department of Transportation memos obtained by the news site. One calls for ending an account within the Highway Trust Fund that funds transit, and would divert that money into highway projects; the other would eliminate the Federal Highway Administration’s ability to fund transit projects, and would block states from using highway money for transit. The two proposals would eliminate billions of dollars in funding, according to Politico.
Paul P. Skoutelas, CEO of the American Public Transportation Association, urged President Trump to reject the “misguided” proposals in a Nov. 14 statement.
“These reckless proposals would devastate Americans in cities, suburbs, and rural communities across the country — cutting off critical transit services that provides access to jobs, health care, and education,” Skoutelas said. “President Trump is a builder and knows smart investments — every $1 invested in public transit generates $5 in long-term economic returns and 77%of Federal investments flow to the private sector.”
On Monday (Nov. 17), Steve Davis, director of Transportation For America, said in a lengthy statement that the proposals “will annihilate state and local transportation, strand millions of Americans who depend on transit every day in red and blue states alike, produce chaos and increase congestion, seize control from states, and utterly fail to actually solve our most pressing long-term transportation funding issues.”
Davis’ statement notes that transit funding from highway funds dates to 1982, when the federal gas tax was raised from 4 to 9 cents, with 20% of all gas-tax funds permanently devoted to transit. “This historic practice — enshrined in a bipartisan deal approved by President Ronald Reagan — has continued for 43 years with broad support in Congress and amongst stakeholders, including the association representing state departments of transportation (AASHTO).”
The ability to shift, or “flex,” federal highway money for transit was highlighted in 2024 when Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro transferred $153 million in highway money to avert service cuts and a 29% fare increase planned by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to address a budget deficit [see “Pennsylvania governor’s move averts …,” Trains.com, Nov. 23, 2024].
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
Call it what you want: inconvenient, inappropriate, catastrophic, ill thought through, mean-spirited, or anything else. The two terms I would use are “inevitable” and “a long time coming”. BTW this affects me, also. I ride transit, not on a regular basis but several times each year.
The states and the cities don’t have enough money for local transit and have run out of taxes to raise. For DeeCee, that’s no problem. DeeCee prints money, by the trillions each year. Some of the printed money goes to states and localities for purely state and local needs.
The transit districts have hardly helped their own cases by tolerating (or even encouraging) fare jumping. Or in the case of Communist-ruled New York, proposing to eliminate fares altogether. Furthermore, the non-deniable gap between public-sector vs. private-sector wages and pensions for similar skill levels seems to be growing.
Anybody with foresight could have seen this coming. Not if but when.