US proposes to boost transit funding to areas with higher marriage, birth rates

The U.S. Transportation Department said on Wednesday it is proposing to boost grants for major transit projects ​by 10% in areas that have above-average marriage and birth rates and imposing ‌strict deadlines to ensure projects remain on schedule.

Democrats criticized the plan, which would apply to 40 major projects already in the program that funds light rail, bus and commuter rail projects and said it could result in lower spending in cities controlled by Democrats.

The Transportation Department awards about US$20 billion annually in transit grants. Democrats in August criticized the agency for not awarding US$1.9 ⁠billion for major transit projects.

"Tying funding for transit projects to marriage rates and how many babies a woman has is the sort of bizarre and dystopian idea you'd expect in a TV show, not actual policy put forth by the U.S. government," Democratic Senator Patty Murray said on Wednesday.

A subway train travels down an elevated track on Wabash Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, the U.S. in 2025. Photo by Reuters

The projects that risk facing spending cuts include Washington's Red Line subway modernization program, Boston's Green Line subway project, an expansion of the BART train in Silicon Valley and an Austin light rail project, Murray said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in January 2025 signed a memo giving preference for transit grants to ‌communities ⁠with higher marriage and birth rates.

Murray cited a study showing the change would likely deprive historically underfunded urban neighborhoods of funding while benefiting higher-income areas and those with larger white populations.

The Transportation Department said the changes included setting strict deadlines and demanding local accountability on projects up front "so we can finally build these systems faster, ⁠better, and safer... If you want federal funding, your project needs to align with where communities and families are actually growing."

Murray said the new guidance could force "transit agencies and local and state governments that have already spent ⁠years planning and designing projects to follow a whole slew of new rating and cost-share requirements."

She argued it was "another attempt by the Trump administration to penalize blue states and slow down and delay ⁠transit projects."

In October 2025, the Transportation Department froze billions of dollars in funding for infrastructure projects in New York and Chicago after Trump blamed a partial government shutdown on Democrats in Congress, but those decisions were overturned by judges.