A Desire to Build Big, Beautiful Things
5/28/2025
At the closing session of APTA’s 2025 Legislative Conference, FTA Acting Administrator Tariq Bokhari said his agency is committed to ensuring that the U.S. transportation infrastructure continues to provide safe, reliable service for the millions who rely on it—and that it expands to reach those who do not yet have access to it.
“Together, we are responsible for moving families safely and quickly across this country. And as we’ve discussed over the last three days, there are many different flavors of routes that we can take to get to our end destination,” Bokhari said. “But it’s that destination that we all share—building big, beautiful things.”
Bokhari said the consensus in Washington of just how important it is to bolster the nation’s transportation grid is “something that is bipartisan in nature.” “This FTA is prioritizing keeping our families moving and that starts with getting America building transit infrastructure projects that increase availability of transit options, accessibility to new routes in neighborhoods, and improve the quality of our aging system and infrastructure,” he said.
“Although I am new to FTA, I am no stranger to witnessing the impact transit has on our communities,” he said. “I think that gives us all reason to have hope for what these next four years are going to look like.”
He continued: “The President and [USDOT] Secretary Duffy have made it clear that the priority is to make commuting safe again. That’s why the Secretary has said that our transit agencies need to do more to improve security and deter crime and fare evasion on our transit systems.”
And while shoring up safety and security on transit systems in metropolitan areas is a priority, Bokhari said he also hopes to reverse the neglect of communities outside of urban centers.
“This Administration and this FTA remembers and recognizes our rural regions who often need additional attention to connect to their communities,” he said.
“Modern, safe, reliable and accessible transit systems in all communities—urban and rural, and everything in between—advances America and Americans. Giving people travel choices makes all the difference when it comes to employability and creating zones of powerful opportunity for new businesses to plant their roots.”
He added that FTA is committed to putting more American-made buses into service across the U.S.— something that is critically important right now.