It's political malpractice!
A huge coalition of transit, walking, biking and environmental groups is demanding that Congress stand up for the infrastructure funding it has already allocated in the face of Trump administration's recent moves to hold back the cash for projects deemed too "green," "equitable," or "hostile to cars."
"The president has made it clear that programs outside the administration’s narrow vision for transportation will not be faithfully implemented, including safety, electric vehicle charging, reconnecting communities damaged by past infrastructure decisions, resilience, and rail projects," reads an open letter to "Members of the House and Senate" signed by the leaders of 45 cities, advocacy groups, transit agencies and the like.
The letter points out that implementing transportation spending bills like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed under President Biden, "has typically been a bipartisan issue," because the funding benefits virtually every American: drivers, cyclists, transit users, and pedestrians across cities, towns, suburbs and rural areas.
But now, that process is in peril — and not only because President Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's are rescinding funding for initiatives that don't "promote vehicle travel," but because Congress's isn't doing enough to fight back, the letter argues.
And things could get even worse going forward. The soon-to-be-negotiated, multi-billion-dollar surface transportation reauthorization process "depends upon the executive branch faithfully implementing all of the programs Congress has [already] put into law, and future Congresses not selectively rescinding funding for programs one party does not like," the letter said.
"Without trust that the priorities of the entire coalition that assembled and passed the last reauthorization are being executed according to that law, it would be political malpractice for those whose programs and priorities are currently being singled out for elimination to begin negotiating on the next reauthorization," the authors continued. "There is no meaningful certainty that any program included in the next surface transportation bill would be administered as intended throughout the term of the legislation. ... Negotiations on developing a successor bill would be farcical."
The consequences of all this political chaos, though, are anything but comedic. Across the country, towns large and small are reeling from the latest wave of federal DOT rescissions, which are being made on the grounds that the project are “hostile to motor vehicles” or don't "support the department’s priority of maintaining or increasing roadway capacity for cars," according to Politico.
That decision cost the tiny city of Fairfield, Alabama close to $12 million to build a bicycle and walking trail. Also cut were a $1.2-milllion grant for a road improvement project in San Diego County that including bike lanes, a $675,000 grant for a bike lane along historic Route 66 in Illinois, a $11.5-million grant to the city of Albuquerque to build a rail trail that would not supplant cars at all, Governing reported. Even the city of Boston was not spared, losing $20 million for streetscape and safety improvements, StreetsblogMASS reported.
“The city won these competitive federal grants to replace sidewalks, improve lighting, upgrade bus stops, and plant trees on neighborhood streets," a Boston City Hall spokesperson told the outlet last week. "The federal government’s decision to cancel these grants once again ignores the clear intent of Congress, and we are reviewing our options.”
US DOT did not respond to a request for comment on the letter, which is signed by a who's who of American transportation leaders, including:
Steve Davis, Transportation for America
Mike McGinn, America Walks
Lauren Weston, Acterra EV Charging for ALL Coalition
Brian Nelson, All Aboard Minnesota
Rob Zako, Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation
Kevin Shin, California Walks
Karl Gnadt, Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District
Melanie Kebler, City of Bend, Oregon
Colin Fiske, Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities
Jill Locantore, Denver Streets Partnership
Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways Coalition
Meg Slattery, Earthjustice Action
Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, GreenLatinos
Eli Lipmen, Move California
Lisa Daglian, Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (New York)
Adam Greenfield, Safe Streets Austin
Katherine Garcia, Sierra Club
Sarah Iannarone, The Street Trust
