APTA Webinar Reviews 2026 Election Outcomes and Transit Impacts
11/10/2026
APTA’s Center for Transportation Excellence (CFTE) webinar “2026 Election Outcomes: Public Transportation Impacts at the Federal, State, and Local Levels” offered a review of how political dynamics will shape the federal landscape for public transportation heading into 2027 as well as a review of the successful transit ballot measure initiatives across the country.
First, the session highlighted the 120th Congress shifting to Democratic control in both the House and the Senate and how key committee leaderships will be affected. APTA also previewed its legislative agenda for the rest of the 119th Congress and the beginning of the 120th Congress: restoring transit and passenger rail funding in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Act, addressing the Mass Transit Account shortfall, enacting a long-term surface transportation authorization act, rescinding tariffs, and restoring Inflation Reduction Act energy tax credits.
Next, CFTE Executive Director Jessica Grennan outlined the success of transit ballot measures, citing 56 wins out of 66 measures for public transit in 2026, an approximately 85 percent win rate. Grennan noted monumental wins in the Bay Area (Prop H and Proposition RTM), Colorado Front Range Passenger Rail District, and counties across Washington and Charleston County, SC. In total for 2026, voters approved more than $31 billion in funding for public transit.
The webinar also featured detailed regional readouts and audience Q&A sessions led by key industry executives, including Metropolitan Transportation Commission Executive Director Andrew Fremier, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Director Julie Kirschbaum, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District General Manager Robert Powers, and Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority Executive Director Ron Mitchum, who presented on their respective 2026 local ballot measures and addressed questions from attendees.
APTA concluded by encouraging leaders to attend upcoming winter events, including the Winter Legislative Meeting on December 3 in Washington, DC, and the Transit Ballot Initiatives Workshop on December 13–16 in Nashville, TN.