Progressives lawmakers are working to pass bold laws to confront traffic violence, climate change, and the uniquely American challenge of compulsory car dependency — and betting that their vision will beat out the status-quo as Washington takes up the next surface transportation bill.
House Republicans vow, as Rep. Sam Graves (R–Mo.) put it, to "get back to basics" like building highways after the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expires next year, Democrats like Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey are setting their sights on more ambitious policies that will confront the nation's most pressing transportation challenges — and explore new solutions for solving them.
Markey outlined some of those solutions in four notable bills, which collectively promise to tackle transit affordability, the national car crash epidemic, the transportation sector's outsized contributions to climate change, and more, while super-charging America's passenger rail network to boot.
If those goals sound unrealistic in a deeply divided Washington, Markey argues that it's even more unreasonable to expect the American public to continue to accept a transportation system that kills 40,000 people a year, accelerates the climate crisis, and take money out of voters' pockets.
"Improving our transportation system is an opportunity to address both immediate day-to-day problems – traffic congestion and high costs – and the long-term challenge of our time: climate change," Markey said in an epistolary interview with Streetsblog. "Unfortunately, our current transportation system is not working for the American people. ... While Republicans are focused on doubling down on the failing status quo, Democrats should be offering a different future with more trains, free buses, fewer deaths, and more connected communities.
"We need wider imaginations, not wider highways," he continued.
To literally narrow the legacy highways, arterials, and other dangerous roads that run through too many U.S. neighborhoods — and use that space to give people safe places to walk, roll, and catch transit instead — Markey partnered with Rep. Steve Cohen (D–Tenn.) to reintroduce the Complete Streets Act, which would require each state to use a portion of its federal highway funding to create a new grant program dedicated to making community streets better for people across modes.
Critically, the law would also require the addition of road infrastructure like sidewalks, bike lanes, crosswalks, and bus stops every time a state builds or rebuilds an eligible road.
Markey argues that an ambitious shift is long overdue, particularly since 2022 marked the high water line for pedestrian deaths in four decades. The last major federal transportation bill did increase funding for Complete Streets projects, but the next one needs to go even bigger.
"Our investments in safer roads are still not keeping pace with our investments in car-centric, dangerous speedways," Markey wrote. "Our roads are funded by the American people, and should therefore be safe for every American, regardless of how they travel. Advocates are understandably impatient about inaction on this issue, but the mandate in my legislation would undoubtedly create seismic change for the better, while also saving lives."
Markey is also sensitive to the impatience of climate activists, who have watched transportation sector emissions climb year after year as scientists warn that climate change won't be mitigated without first reducing how much Americans drive. The Biden administration's effort to get states to simply record their greenhouse gas levels, though, was successfully sued out of existence by state Departments of Transportation that argued that only Congress could make such a requirement. But without that state-level data, it's been difficult to hold DOTs accountable for continuing to sink money into autocentric infrastructure that's contributing to transportation sector emissions.
That's part of why Markey worked with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D–Ore.) and Rep. Jared Huffman (D–Calif.) in 2024 to introduce the Generation Resilient, Environmentally Exceptional National (GREEN) Streets Act, which would direct the DOT to formally establish decreasing emissions and vehicle miles traveled benchmarks — and require states to spend their highway money on reducing those benchmarks if they fall out of compliance.
Moreover, the bill would task states with analyzing the VMTs and emissions impacts of many new highway-widening projects before they add any lanes, opening the door for them to be cancelled if they're shown to be harmful.
As the Trump administration continues outright climate denialism and as existing U.S. roads crumble while states endlessly (and needlessly) widen highways, Markey argues that the GREEN streets act is more important now than ever before.
"We urgently need more accountability and transparency for our transportation infrastructure investments," the Senator wrote. "With the level of federal investment provided to states for infrastructure, taxpayers can expect states to show how they are delivering a greener, safer, cheaper transportation system. And if states aren’t delivering on those critical areas, then we should ensure federal investments fund projects that will."
While Republican roadblocks bottleneck Congress, I’m working with @RepDeluzio to build the transportation system of the future. By investing in passenger rail, we’re lowering emissions, creating union jobs, and connecting communities across the country. All aboard! pic.twitter.com/v01GZqc5RU
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) July 31, 2025
Of course, one particularly impactful strategy for reducing the carbon footprint of the nation's highway system is to give U.S. residents more trains to travel longer distances — instead of functionally forcing them to drive anywhere shorter than a flight. That's part of why Markey introduced the All Aboard Act, which would pump $150 billion into America's passenger rail network by super-charging existing programs, while simultaneously creating several new ones, like the Green Railroad Fund to electrify polluting rail yards.
That overall Markey agenda has won the support of labor, transportation, and environmental groups, as well as a whole mess of co-sponsors, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
Advocates are particularly excited about a provision in the bill that would create the first dedicated rail formula program, to guarantee all states money to plan for their train-traveling future — the same way they're currently guaranteed money to build highways.
"The most important thing the federal government can do to support infrastructure projects is provide long-term, reliable funding," Markey wrote. "States have always been able to count on reliable funding for their roads, but rail infrastructure has not had the same privilege. Competitive grants can turbocharge big projects, but states must have the capacity to plan for and maintain those big projects. We want our trains to arrive reliably and on time, so the funding must do the same."
For low income Americans, though, even the shortest train and bus trips can remain out of reach for a simple reason: they can't afford the fare. The Freedom to Move Act, though, would allow communities to compete for a total of $5 billion to make their transit systems free, while simultaneously funding targeted service improvements, particularly in the low-income and historically underserved communities that are most likely to take advantage of a free ride if it meets their needs.
Co-introduced by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D–Mass) and co-sponsored by more than 20 lawmakers, Markey says the bill has won broad support because it cuts through typical arguments about how free fares force agencies to skimp on service, injecting money directly into systems that many feel should be treated as a basic public service. He says that data from communities in his home state has already proved that this approach "boosts ridership, reduces administrative costs associated with fare collection, and improves safety and on-board experiences for transit workers and riders alike."
And with transit agencies across America fast approach a death spiral, they can use all those advantages right away.
"While skeptics of free transit programs worry about the tradeoffs of improving service and affordability, Massachusetts has invested in fare-free pilots for Regional Transit Authorities throughout the state — and shown that instituting fare free programs can deliver on both fronts," he continued. "Unfortunately, decades of car-centric investments are forcing transit agencies to face a fiscal cliff, whether their service is fare-free or not. The federal government must provide support to communities to both improve service and provide fare free pilots. Our communities desperately need both."
The road ahead
Of course, all of those bills are a long way from becoming law — and with steep headwinds in Washington, the path to including them in the next surface transportation bill could be a rocky one. The Biden-era infrastructure law will likely to require a short term extension until after the midterm elections, so Democrats might have an opportunity to gain the ground they need to pass progressive policies like these. And even if they don't, Markey argues they have an obligation to fight for the transportation future Americans deserve, rather than watering down their ambitions.
"Republicans need Democratic votes to pass the next Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act," the senator wrote. "That means we have the power to ensure the bill includes our priorities in a real way.
"The good news is that transportation affects so many of our key priorities; for example, organized labor, environmental groups, and safety advocates all have a massive stake in this bill," Markey continued. "Big tent coalitions like this can create the pressure to deliver results that reimagine – not reinforce – the status quo."
U.S. DOT is currently accepting public comment on its proposal to Advance a Surface Transportation Proposal that Focuses on America's Most Fundamental Infrastructure Needs through Aug. 20. Step-by-step instructions on how to submit a public comment (including comments in support of the policies outlined in this interview) are available here.