Public Transportation Funding Is Essential, Says Sen. Warren
5/28/2025
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, was pragmatic during a Fireside Chat at APTA’s 2025 Legislative Conference. Speaking with Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) GM and CEO Phillip Eng, Warren acknowledged “a lot of things are getting broken” currently and foresaw “the fight” if next year’s surface transportation reauthorization does not include the longstanding 20 percent revenue share to mass transit.
For now, though, Warren was happy to see so many transportation advocates gathered, ready to drive home the message—her message—that “Nothing works without public transportation.”
It is not just a city essential, Warren said; transportation makes the crucial connections throughout the state and country that support important places like the Soldier On village for homeless veterans, the people working in communities they can’t afford to live in, and so much more.
“In every single Senate office, every single House office, we all need this fund,” Warren said. “This is not a Democratic issue or Republican issue. It’s an everybody issue.”
Warren recommended that advocates highlight stories of how public transportation benefits businesses, veterans, and even the next generation of voters— many of whom do not drive at all and instead rely on public transportation. Stories make transportation, and the value it brings, real to legislators, “and frankly, too few Senators, too few Reps actually get on public transportation,” she said.