Trains, Buses and Sidewalks: Competing Priorities in Public Transit

Listen to this episode on the player below or subscribe for free on YouTube or the podcast app of your choice — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audacy and Audible.



There are new questions about the future of U.S. transportation funding after the election. Experts are eyeing a shift in priorities, with local transit measures seeing success in unexpected places and tensions rising over partisan divides. While federal investments in infrastructure have sparked broad support, the future of transportation policy — at both the federal and local levels — remains uncertain, influenced by everything from climate goals to regional politics.

Senior Staff Writers Jared Brey (Governing*) and Skip Descant (Government Technology*) join the podcast for a special post-election episode of Your Mileage May Vary to discuss the prospects for transit during a time of political transition.

Show Notes

Here are the top-five takeaways from this episode:

1. Partisan Dynamics in Transit Policy: Transportation infrastructure shows mixed partisanship: Transit funding often aligns with urban, Democrat-led areas, while Republicans favor car-oriented infrastructure in rural and suburban districts. Local-level ballot measures, such as Nashville’s recent success funding multimodal transit, illustrate this divide.
2. Shift Toward Basics and Multimodal Solutions: Cities like Nashville and Seattle are prioritizing foundational infrastructure — such as sidewalks, busways and safer intersections — over costly, flashy projects like light rail. This approach aims to create transit systems that meet immediate needs and build public trust.
3. Federal Investment and Uncertainty: The Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law spurred transportation investments popular across party lines. However, the incoming Trump administration raises questions about priorities, particularly in electric vehicle policies and emissions standards.
4. Challenges in Transit Expansion: Efforts to expand transit into suburbs face repeated setbacks, as seen in Atlanta’s MARTA system and San Francisco’s ride-share tax failure. These examples highlight public resistance to funding transit despite growing urban-suburban connectivity needs.
5. Future Issues to Watch: Key upcoming debates include reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund in 2026, the ongoing decline of public transit ridership and funding, and the widening policy gaps between states pursuing climate-focused transportation initiatives and those resisting federal influence.

Related Link to stories referenced in the episode:

• What the 2024 Election Could Mean for Transportation Policy
• Calif. Strengthens Emissions, Clean Transportation Standards

Our editors used ChatGPT 4.0 to summarize the episode in bullet form to help create the show notes. The main image for this story was created using DALL-E 3.
*Governing and Government Technology are divisions of e.Republic LLC.