The government Is ppen. Now it needs to get America moving — literally
President Trump is now threatening federal transit funding — which could hit small urban and rural transit agencies hardest.
byLeeAnn Hall OtherWords
Despite the government reopening, Americans are still suffering from the chaos of an administration that is out of touch with the needs of the people.
Though federal workers are back on the job and agencies are resuming their work, countless essential programs are stalled or at risk, costing all of us by failing to invest in the services we need, like health care, housing, and transit.
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LeeAnn Hall
Reopening the government is not the same as restarting the economy — and if Congress and the White House want to turn relief into momentum, they need to put real investment behind one of the strongest engines of growth we have: public transportation.
Public transportation is one of the best economic investments a government can make. Every $1 billion invested in public transit creates and supports more than 50,000 jobs, according to the American Public Transportation Association.
Strong transit networks attract businesses, get people to their jobs, and revitalize downtowns. Cities like Denver, Dallas, and Seattle have already seen how modern transit systems can spur billions in investment around new rail lines and stations.
Transportation also lies at the heart of our affordability crisis. It’s the second highest cost burden for most American households, just below housing.
But instead of addressing this head on, the administration is reneging on its funding obligations for projects of all types and threatening to further deplete investments that would give us more affordable options to get around. Across the country, bus lines are being cut, subway systems are aging, and commuter rail projects are stalled because federal funding remains uncertain or insufficient.
Which is why it is so troubling that the Trump administration is threatening to take the unprecedented step of gutting federal transit funding altogether in the next funding fight.
While this move may have the politically motivated goal of impacting larger transit systems in cities like New York and Los Angeles, what the administration does not realize is that the communities that would suffer the most are those with transit agencies who rely the most heavily on federal funding:.
These include small urban and rural agencies like the ones you’ll find in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Flagstaff, Arizona, or Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where students rely on transit to get to class, warehouse workers rely on transit to get to work, and older adults rely on transit to remain independent and stay connected to their communities.
Washington’s next move should be clear: reject Trump’s plan to gut transit funding and pass a long-term, fully funded transit package.
That means investing in operating funding, supporting maintenance and modernization, and putting resources towards expansion, so that local and state partners aren’t left to carry the burden alone. The return on that investment isn’t abstract — it’s faster commutes, stronger local economies, and cleaner air.
But this will require political will from our leaders. It means resisting the easy allure of short-term fixes like formula funding for highway expansion and narrow discretionary grants for transit, and instead delivering the long-term funding for the infrastructure that makes cities thrive.
Federal and state governments must prioritize sustained, predictable funding for local transit agencies. At the local level, cities should redesign streets for buses, bikes, and pedestrians — not just cars.
The government is open again. Good. Now let’s keep the country moving — literally.
A nation that invests in its people’s ability to move freely and affordably is a nation that’s investing in its own growth. And we need that more than ever.
LeeAnn Hall is the Executive Director of the National Campaign for Transit Justice. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.
