In order to capture federal transit dollars, LA Metro will have to cooperate with federal immigration officers, no longer require masks on buses and trains, and encourage more residents to get married and have children, under a new order from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The unusual guidelines, part of an order signed by Duffy on Jan. 29, say the federal Department of Transportation will favor grants to agencies who follow these policies. Duffy signed the order one day after his confirmation, saying he wants to remove “Woke policies” in favor of strengthening American families.
For example, federal dollars for expensive rail projects, highway improvements and bus lanes will be prioritized for agencies with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average.
LA Metro has lobbied for federal dollars, including those administered by the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program, for many proposed projects. Those include the Southeast Gateway Line, a train or monorail through the Sepulveda Pass, and the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail.
In September, the San Fernando Valley’s first light rail project received a federal grant of $893 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The money is helping Metro build the first phase of the project. It’s unclear how the new order will affect future federal grants for LA Metro projects.
In the order, Duffy wrote that the new priorities for federal grants will be carried out “to the extent practicable, relevant, appropriate and consistent with law.” The new DOT director also requires “local compliance or cooperation” with federal immigration enforcement to remove illegal immigrants from trains, buses and stations. This is part of aligning transit agencies “with other goals and objectives” specified by President Donald Trump, according to the order.
LA Metro did not offer a response.
“My one word response is ‘bizarre,’” said Hal Dash, CEO and president of Cerrell Associates, a public policy and communications firm that advocates for infrastructure projects, including LA Metro projects.
“They will give preference to communities with higher birth rates than the national average. That is what I find bizarre,” Dash said. “Or are we moving out all the undocumented immigrants who ride the buses and trains to make room for legal residents?”
The facts about birth rates may hamper federal dollars from flowing to California transit agencies, said one political analyst.
“The order is designed to favor Republican states over Democratic states. The 10 states with the highest fertility rates all voted for Trump. The 10 states with the lowest fertility rates — including California (and not including D.C.) — all voted for Harris,” said John Pitney, a Roy P. Crocker professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College, in an emailed response.
LA Metro’s current budget for fiscal year 2025 is $9 billion. The budget is balanced, and does include monies from the federal government, said Edith Burge, Metro’s interim director of communications, in an emailed response.
The current budget runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. The budget has:
• Increased transit operations to above pre-pandemic levels — a 5.3% increase above the previous year in revenue service hours for bus and rail service.
• A bump of $354 million for enhancing public safety — an 11% increase over the previous year’s budget.
• About $32.2 million more for cleaning stations, buses and rail cars — a 14.4% increase. This includes 165 new staffers for cleaning and upkeep.
Metro is conducting its first budget town hall meeting for the fiscal year 2026 budget that runs from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 6 p.m. The meeting is online only. For the English webcast click on: https://janus.teletownhall.us/?id=Metro&eid=111632. For the Spanish language webcast: https://janus.teletownhall.us/?id=Metro&eid=111633.
To join the meeting by phone, dial the following number for English: 1-888-400-1932. For Spanish: 1-888-400-9342. Metro has asked for comments on where budget spending should grow or be reduced. Metro will randomly contact about 100,000 residents from various ethnic and economic backgrounds in L.A. County using an automated phone system to participate, the agency reported. These residents will get a call at the time of the meeting and be prompted to join either in English or Spanish.
Residents can pre-register for the town hall on Tuesday, or submit a written question or comments here: https://tthm.wufoo.com/forms/metro-telephone-town-hall-signup. Or go to https://mybudget.metro.net for more information or to leave feedback.
Metro surpassed 1 million riders a day recently. Some want to see Metro grow with more riders, which in turn would decrease the cars on roads and freeways and reduce smog pre-cursors and carbon dioxide formed when burning fossil fuels — the primary cause of global climate change.
“We would like to see Metro double-down on investments in its budget that increases ridership. Let’s set a goal for 2 million riders a day by 2030,” said Eli Lipmen, executive director of Move LA. Lipmen anticipates a drop in federal government funding, and he wants the agency to “accelerate planned capital projects using existing local funds … and the state budget,” he wrote in an emailed response.
With limited state funds, the agency will rely on federal dollars for some projects, especially those LA Metro wants to complete for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
“My sense is with all the huge projects Metro is working toward completion, they need federal money,” Dash said. “They will need to find some way to work with the feds.”
Wes Reutimann, deputy director at Active San Gabriel Valley (ActiveSGV), said the new budget must make transit more convenient, so more will ride instead of driving cars. “Metro has the potential to play a much stronger role in cleaning our air and addressing climate change,” he wrote in an emailed response.
The Transit Coalition’s Executive Director Bart Reed, an L.A.-based nonprofit, wants Metro to put more money into enforcing new bus-only lanes such as those on La Brea Avenue, which operate during the busiest hours.
“I’d like to see Metro redirect some enforcement money for motorcycle officers to get scofflaws (who park) in the bus lanes,” Reed said.
On Feb. 20, the agency’s Finance, Budget and Audit Committee will meet at 10 a.m. at Metro HQ, 1 Gateway Plaza in Los Angeles. It also meets on March 20 and April 17. A public hearing is scheduled for the FY26 budget on May 15, at Metro HQ in the board room, 3rd Floor. The governing board will consider adoption on May 22.