Public transportation officials—emphasizing transit’s role in economic development, sustainability and natural-disaster response—are pushing back against a White House proposal to cut $2.4 billion out of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation budget, including phasing out capital grants and the TIGER program.
Also pondering how disruptive technologies such as Uber will affect the role of trains and buses, the industry is evolving toward an identity of providing overall mobility. “We need to think about moving people and goods and services, not cars and trucks and buses,” said Roger Millar, Washington State Dept. of Transportation secretary.