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According to Politico, the Trump administration may eliminate the Highway Trust Fund’s mass transit account and bar states from using highway formula dollars for transit projects. If passed as part of the Surface Transportation Act reauthorization legislation, which would take effect on October 1, 2026, the measure will “destroy state and local transportation budgets,” according to Transportation for America.
Congress created the mass transit account in 1982 as part of an agreement to raise gasoline taxes to support the Highway Trust Fund. President Ronald Reagan signed it into law in 1983. “It will allow us to complete the interstate system,” he said, as well as “strengthen and improve our bridges, make us safer and help our cities meet their public transportation needs.”
American Public Transportation Association President and CEO Paul Skoutelas urged President Trump to reject the plan to cut this important source of federal funding for public transit. “These reckless proposals would devastate Americans in cities, suburbs and rural communities across the country, cutting critical transit services that provide access to jobs, health care and education,” Skoutelas said in a statement.
Previous federal fuel tax increases have been split 80-20 between the highway account and the transit account, but the transit account’s share of fuel tax revenue has never been close to 20 percent, according to the Eno Center for Transportation. In accordance with the Employment and Infrastructure Investments Act, public transport has received 18.2% of the highway fund’s spending authority.
“We’re not going to spend money on murals and train stations or bike lanes or paths,” Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., told Punchbowl News Nov. 4. “We will invest money in traditional infrastructure, that is roads and bridges.” Graves is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“Where do such absurd ideas come from?” Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said in an emailed statement. “Millions of people travel every day using public transportation. Most states rely on public transportation to provide another option for people to get around. Investments in public transportation create and support jobs. Do I need to continue? These top-down, top-down groupthink ideas need to die.”
Clean energy advocates also rejected the proposal. “At a time when families are already feeling squeezed, the administration is trying to limit transportation options, increase reliance on cars, and force everyone onto the most expensive path possible,” Liya Rechtman, senior transportation policy officer at Evergreen Action, said in a statement.
