Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

Add another Obama's legacy that President Trump is undoing: funding transit and rail projects.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced $900 million in new infrastructure grants on Tuesday for 55 projects in 35 states — and nearly all of them are for highways and bridges in states that supported Trump. And the latest grants continue a three-year gutting of transit funding.

"This is continuing the trend we identified earlier this year," Transportation For America spokesman Steve Davis told Streetsblog. "This shift already well underway, just cemented with Tuesday's announcements, and it is as to be expected at this point."

In the first three fiscal years of the Trump administration, highways, roads and bridges received 70.4 percent of all federal transportation grants, more than double the Obama administration's 34.8 percent between the 2014 and 2016 fiscal years.

The other modal spending shows the changing priorities of the current president to the last one:

Funding for mass transit? The Obama White House allocated 28 percent of its multi-modal grants. Trump cut that to 8.5 percent.

Rail projects? Obama was at 15.7 percent on roads. Trump is at 9.2 percent.

And bicycle or pedestrian projects? Obama pegged those at 10.5 percent. Trump cut it to zero.

Zero was not the percentage envisioned when the Obama administration launched the federal Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) initiative to stimulate the economy and offer an alternative to driving in areas with few options.

Trump has turned the progressive transit initiative into another rural roads program that awards his electoral strongholds with porky projects.

Only 28 percent of these federal transportation grants went to states that didn't vote for Trump, according to Politico. Florida received the most money from the government in FY 2019 or about $62.4 million, followed by North Carolina which got $51.1 million and Maine which hauled in $44.7 million. Kentucky, which has received considerable attention from Chao's department, received three grants worth a total of $30.4 million or 3.4 percent of the entire windfall.

This year, 68 percent of the grants or $603 million are for roads and bridge projects. The eye-poppingly large awards include $20 million to widen Interstate 64 in West Virginia; $25 million for a mobility and access project for Interstate 65 in Boone County, Ind.; $22.5 million in resiliency improvements along Interstate 95 in North Carolina, and $18 million for the U.S. Route 30 Freeway Extension Project in Canton.

Only a handful of projects are for bus projects, station upgrades, and parks.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has shifted hundreds of millions of dollars in BUILD grants from transit projects to rural roads in the first three years of the Trump presidency.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, under Secretary Elaine Chao, has shifted hundreds of millions of dollars in BUILD grants from transit projects to rural roads in the first three years of the Trump presidency.

Miami is getting $22.4 million for its Underline Miami-Dade County Multi-Modal Mobility Corridor, which will transform a 10-mile stretch under the city's Metrorail into an urban trail with a bike path, recreational spaces, and canvases for art installations.

Phoenix is collecting $24 million to extend its rail line to Sky Harbor Airport. Baton Rouge can count on $15 million for bus rapid transit. Philadelphia is adding $12.6 million to reopen its Franklin Square Station, which had been closed for 40 years, bringing Camden commuters into Center City.

And as Streetsblog reported earlier this week, there's a $12 million award for a "Memphis Innovation Corridor" bringing a bus rapid transit route to the University of Memphis which even Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn touted as a "tremendous asset."

But the larger story is roads and cars — more of them.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Wednesday’s Headlines Are the Best of the Best

What does it take to turn the tide against the dominance of cars? These cities are an example.

October 8, 2025

This Newsroom Is Looking For Its Next Big Tip on the Train

Investigative journalists at ProPublica are betting that the next big tipster is riding the DC rails right now — and reaching out to find them.

October 8, 2025

Chicago Bike Scavenger Hunt Raises Money for Local Abortion Fund

Chicago cyclists are standing up for bodily autonomy — or, more accurately, pedaling for it.

October 7, 2025

The Shocking Untold History of America’s Rails-to-Trails Movement

Some of the fiercest battles for the future of public space in America have happened on abandoned railway corridors — and the battles aren't over yet.

October 7, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Take It Back

Withholding transit funds is just one aspect of the Trump administration's campaign to reshape the federal bureaucracy during the shutdown.

October 7, 2025

Commentary: Speed Cameras are a Good Start for Safe Streets

But *all* tools must be used to achieve Vision Zero —  not just speed cameras.

October 6, 2025
See all posts