Edgewise Network presented a webinar for transit industry professionals on February 24, 2025. Crissy Ditmore and Jason Pavluchuk explained what to expect in the grants and legislative space with the Trump administration. Following is part one of an abbreviated transcript. To watch the entire webinar, visit Edgewise’s YouTube page.
Crissy: Today we’ll be going through some practical guidance on what we can be doing right now to understand what is going on in Washington and ensure your transit agency continues to receive federal funding. Our industry is not new to changing administrations, priorities, and expectations, but there are some differences this go around with the Trump administration. We’ll talk through some of the latest administrative actions what their impact has been so far.
There’s still a lot up in the air, so we’re going to talk through what we know and identify things we don’t know. We’ll be giving you some starting points for what to do in this next year.
We’ll talk about what kind of funding we might expect and, more specifically, how to be successful in your grant writing. (Grants appear in part two of this story.) We’ll explore opportunities to reset how we do things and how that plays into the future of transportation funding.
Jason: I’ve been in the transportation policy funding and advocacy space for roughly 25 years, working on creating some of these funding programs as well as helping both public and private sector entities access this funding.
I’ve gone through a lot of presidential transitions. There’s always change, regardless of what policy space you’re in, but nothing quite like the change we’ve experienced in early days of the Trump administration.
One of the things I noticed is that the Trump administration is taking on a Silicon-Valley-like disruptor approach. The theory that the best way to fix something is to break it and build it back up is the approach that his administration is taking. It is unclear if this approach is sustainable. It is even more unclear if this approach will work. However, the ball of dust it has been creating has caused confusion and concern as transportation agencies are having to change the way the way they approach federal funding.
I think it is this ‘cloud of dust’ that is most dangerous. That’s why it’s important for all parties to take a deep breath, take a step back, and see the forest for the trees.
Today I want to dive into what’s real, what’s a threat, and where we go from here. We’ll clear the air and then move into what we hope will be significant opportunity for your agency or your company, but more importantly, transportation in general.
The federal funding pause
Jason: We’ll start with the “quote-unquote” funding pause. As the administration came in, literally within the first 12 hours, they put a pause on funding, including the Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Again, numerous courts made clear that the Trump Administration could not freeze Congressionally appropriated funding without legal justification. Today, as far as transportation is concerned, everything appears to be moving forward. I would not say “as normal,” but it is moving forward.
Reimbursement timing slowed
Jason: While most transportation funding will continue to flow, we can expect an extra layer of oversight at the very top level of DOT. We will probably initially see a little bit of a slowdown in terms of how long it takes for DOT to process grants and reimbursement due to extra steps being added.
In addition, government-wide, thousands of people who had less than two years on the job were let go. This includes numerous federal employees who were at USDOT, many of whom played a role in administering grants. This creates a double-edged sword where there is an added layer of scrutiny through the grant process and then there are also fewer people to review and process grants.
The legal authority of these executive orders
Jason: The 1974 Impoundment Act and subsequent Supreme Court findings declared that the Executive Branch cannot withhold funding that Congress appropriates. In short, the law says that if Congress authorized it and appropriates funding, then the Executive Branch must use it for its intended purposes. That is not to say that there are not ways that an administration can slow the down the funding or revise what to prioritize; As long as it’s within the legal statute, it can slow it down and not make it a priority.
To be fair, we’ve seen that with previous administrations, including the Biden administration. The grants that furthered their priorities were the first to receive notices of funding availability. Grants for things that were secondary or tertiary to their goals were some of the last to be made available. It’s not uncommon. What would be uncommon is to say we are not going to, for example, make available Bus/Bus Facility money or the SMART grant.
I’ve seen no indication that the Trump administration is going to do that. I think most of the focus that we have seen — both behind the scenes and in public — is that they’re really focusing on some of the billions of dollars for things like electric vehicle charging stations.
New priorities under the Trump administration
Jason: There’s certainly a new set of priorities within this administration. For example, the last administration focused on Justice 40, the concept that 40 percent of the benefits of infrastructure should be felt by low income, disadvantaged communities. This administration has already scrapped that. Instead, they’re putting a lot of their focus on safety and efficiency.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy released a memo stating the DOT is planning to focus funding on areas that have high birth and marriage rates. While this hasn’t been a metric that transportation planners typically look at, it is a metric just the same as Justice 40 was, so it is likely allowable. This is certainly something you should be keeping in mind when you’re writing grants.
Can we stay friends?
Jason: The biggest question in transportation is, will the left and the right stay friends? Right now, all parties are saying the that transportation has always been bipartisan and there’s nothing that’s going to change that. Both chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate committees have publicly stated that.
But we are in very tumultuous political times, and while they may want to work together, will the politics of the day allow them? That goes for both sides and we don’t know the answer. The great news is that right now they’re all saying the right thing. Knowing many of them personally, they truly do believe it.
They really want an infrastructure bill that serves as an example of what can happen when Congress works together. That is where they’re at now. And hopefully it’s where they’ll be.
Keep moving forward
Jason: The DOT is telling me that things are normal and to keep moving forward. I would urge all of you to do the same. Proceed as you normally would, both from a vendor and a public agency side.
If your agency had programs that you’ve been spinning up – maybe you’ve done some background on vendors or solutions — keep going. There’s likely going to be a delay, but it’s important to be ready when the grants are. Keep going with your grant applications.
If you have an opinion, now’s the time to share it with your members of Congress. I think you’re going to see a growing influence in the role of local and regional governments. One of the reasons there were so many new grant programs recently was because so few local and regional governments had direct access to transportation dollars.
So far, Democrats have made it very clear that prioritizing formula funding for local and regional governments is their priority. I think you’re going to see NPOs and local governments actually have real money available.
Crissy: Stuff is going to happen outside of our control, so how do we continue to impart joy in both our personal and professional lives and in our communities? How can we improve some things in the lives of people? Let’s solution some things together so that we can move things forward. That’s part of the approach that we’re taking here today – offering some very specific guidelines.
Jason: It’s been a little bit of group therapy for us. I try to, regardless of the administration, remain professional and neutral. But this is a very different administration. It came in like a wrecking ball (not to quote Miley Cyrus). This president has elicited very strong reactions, both for and against some of the things he is doing. But moving beyond the cloud of dust, transportation agencies have a common goal of moving people and goods safely and effectively. That helps change lives and the funding we need to do that is still there, so press mute on the noise and charge forward.
Help is here
Keep an eye out for the second part of this series, which will focus on creating winning grant applications and what we expect for specific funding programs. Also check our ongoing Washington Watch column for news and download Genfare’s Grant Guide for guidance on the Infrastructure Bill’s public transit programs.
Plus, your Genfare Business Development Director is always willing to work with your agency and Genfare’s government relations consultants to help you craft fare collection solutions and grant applications that lead to winning funding.
