Transit funding threatened again

“We urge President Trump to reject the U.S. Department of Transportation’s misguided proposals to eliminate the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund and prohibit states from using their highway funds for public transit,” said Paul P. Skoutelas, the president and CEO of the American Public Transportation Association. “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.”

APTA

The Trump administration’s deprioritizing of public transit funding is reaching another level as plans to eliminate a key funding source have become clear.

“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.”

The comments come in response to reports of an internal memo within the DOT that proposes killing off the funding stream flowing from the Highway Trust Fund to transit projects.

The much-troubled HTF funnels about 20% of its money into funding transit projects, an amount estimated at between $6-$8 billion a year.

According to data from the Eno Center for Transportation, in 2024 the HTF spent $26.7 billion more than it received in net highway user tax payments.

According to the Tax Foundation, “Without reform, highway spending will exceed highway revenue by $17 billion in 2026.”

Fixing the HTF is in an intractable issue caused by fuel taxes that have not been adjusted for inflation and the rise of electric vehicles. Transfers from general funds created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have kept it afloat in recent years.

A new report from The Tax Foundation recommends a greater reliance on user fees based on Vehicle Miles Traveled.

VMT-based solutions include road user charges also know as RUCs. Three states already have RUCs programs in place and at least 35 others are researching the idea.

According to the Tax Foundation, “A VMT tax is the most efficient and sustainable option for U.S. highway funding amid rapidly changing markets and technologies. It best achieves the user-pays principle, aligning taxes paid with actual road use, vehicle weight, and infrastructure costs.”

The next five-year reauthorization of highway funding is due in September 2026.

The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is already hard at work on solutions that include EV fees and more formula-based funding for highways.

The Trump administration continues a pattern of antagonizing public transit authorities which includes efforts to undermine the congestion pricing system currently in place in New York City.

Trump and his DOT Secretary Sean Duffy has heaped criticism on transit agencies and threatened to withhold funding in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.