Tuesday’s Headlines Are a Sanctuary

The Trump administration's latest threat would withhold funding from many big-city transit agencies and transportation projects in some blue states with "sanctuary" policies on immigration.

By Blake Aued

12:33 AM EST on February 4, 2025

Photo: Adam Fagen

In another confounding and legally questionable executive order from the Trump administration, newly confirmed Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is threatening to withhold federal transportation funding from "sanctuary cities" that don't cooperate with immigration enforcement (New York Times). The administration is also suspending many Biden-era road safety grants (Streetsblog).
On Transit Equity Day, celebrating civil rights hero Rosa Parks, Transportation for America highlighted the need for better rural transit.
The National Association of City Transportation Officials' updated Urban Bikeway Design Guide offers traffic engineers a range of guidance on safer streets. (Forbes)
With the average cost of a new car now nearing an astronomical $50,000, automakers are planning on introducing smaller and more affordable models. (Auto News; Jalopnik)
Tesla's robotaxi efforts face an unexpected obstacle: navigating China's bus lanes. (Fortune)
Since congestion pricing took effect Jan. 5, 1 million fewer vehicles have entered Manhattan. (Reuters)
Pittsburgh Regional Transit is lobbying the Pennsylvania legislature for $117 million to avoid fare hikes, service cuts and layoffs (Union Progress). Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to emphasize transit funding again in his latest budget proposal due out today (Washington Post).
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has a controversial plan to use a new dedicated tax for transit to zero out existing state support. (MinnPost)
Giving buses in Boston priority at intersections resulted in a 21 percent drop in delays. (Cities Today)
A new park-and-ride Metro hub is open in Houston, and Seattle plans to open two new LInk stations in May. (Mass Transit)
San Antonio approved a plan to add 600 miles of bike lanes over the next 25 years, but has yet to identify the billions of dollars in funding needed to implement the plan. (Report)
A Dayton architect proposes replacing U.S. 35, a nine-lane highway, with a surface street, parks and infill housing. (Daily News)
Portland is eliminating a car lane on SW 6th Street to widen its exceptionally narrow bike lanes. (BikePortland)
New Orleans bikeshare Blue Bikes is holding a scavenger hunt contest to win a free membership for whoever finds a king cake baby by Mardi Gras. (WWLTV)