Transit funds at risk

President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request would sharply reduce federal support for public transit and passenger rail. (apta.com) The American Public Transportation Association said the April 3 request seeks $16.3 billion for transit, down 23% from fiscal 2026, and $2.8 billion for passenger rail, down 82%. (apta.com) The proposal would cut Capital Investment Grants by $2.1 billion to $1.2 billion and eliminate funding for the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail grant program. (apta.com) Rail Passengers Association said Amtrak funding would fall to about $2.1 billion from $2.427 billion in fiscal 2026, including $1.45 billion for the National Network and $650 million for the Northeast Corridor. (railpassengers.org) Those cuts arrive as advance appropriations from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are set to end after fiscal 2026. Rail Passengers Association said that creates a much steeper drop than the topline budget tables alone suggest. (railpassengers.org) (smartcitiesdive.com) The same budget request does not yet include the next surface transportation authorization bill, the larger package that sets policy and funding rules for highways, bridges, and mass transit. (smartcitiesdive.com) On April 15, Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada introduced the Modal Parity in Permitting Act, a House bill aimed at giving transit and passenger rail projects the same property-acquisition flexibility that highway projects already have during federal environmental review. (titus.house.gov) Titus said the bill would let project sponsors acquire needed real-property interests before completing the National Environmental Policy Act process. Original cosponsors are Reps. Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania and Laura Friedman of California. (titus.house.gov) The bill does not restore any money cut by the White House request. It targets one of the delays transit agencies and passenger-rail sponsors face when they try to move projects into construction. (titus.house.gov) Congress writes the final spending bills, so the April 3 budget request is an opening bid, not enacted law. For transit agencies, Amtrak, and state rail planners, the next fight is whether lawmakers preserve the infrastructure-law funding surge or let it drop off in fiscal 2027. (apta.com) (railpassengers.org)