In 2024, the Biden-Harris administration secured $695 billion for 74,000 transportation projects nationwide, many of them public transit- and climate-oriented. This year was different, to say the least.
In its 2026 budget proposal, the Trump administration slashed green infrastructure spending, inhibiting transportation projects like the one to build new high-speed rail in California. And Trump is now considering knocking down Eero Saarinen’s main hall at Dulles International Airport. But it wasn’t all bad.
Congestion pricing is still in effect in New York, despite Trump’s best efforts, and Boston may soon follow suit. Los Angeles has a great new transit center. Stay along for the ride to look back on the transportation stories AN covered this year.
California high-speed rail initiative moved forward despite FY26 budget cuts
In May, the Trump administration outlined its Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget proposal, which entailed cutting funding for housing, transportation, climate, and education programs. The “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” was signed into law on July 4.
The bill cut transportation spending by 14 percent in comparison to the FY25 budget, a $3.5 billion gap. This had an immediate impact on efforts to build new high-speed rail lines in California, among other infrastructure projects.
Nationwide, there was a substantial 98 percent cut to transit capital investment grants, bringing to a halt projects intended to provide service in transportation deserts with improved subways, bus lines, and rapid transit. There will also be a 91 percent cut to the Federal Railroad Administration. Discretionary funding for Amtrak’s national network, including the Northeast Corridor, has been eliminated.
Still, California high-speed rail is progressing. In September, the state of California pledged $1 billion toward the project’s completion.
This December, the California High-Speed Rail Authority released its Draft Environmental Impact Report and Environmental Impact Statement for the 30-mile, Los Angeles-to-Anaheim segment of the system. This component will connect Los Angeles Union Station with the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center.
New York City implemented congestion pricing
Congestion pricing went into effect in New York City on January 5, after 20 years of planning.
Dattner Architects, Parsons, Stantec, and Doppelmayr designed the equipment necessary for congestion pricing. Passenger vehicles are now charged $9 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street, whether they arrive from New Jersey, Connecticut, or Long Island.
One month after going into effect, the Trump administration shared plans to kill the program; the court case is ongoing.
Sixth months into congestion pricing’s implementation, researchers said that pollution, traffic, and accidents declined dramatically in Manhattan. “It’s been even more obviously beneficial than even the most fervent proponents had hoped,” said Ben Furnas, executive director of Transportation Alternatives.
The Trump administration is still trying to pull the plug on congestion pricing in court, despite its effectiveness; the city of New York and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) are countersuing. City officials in Boston are now considering a congestion pricing program, as reported by AN.
New Pittsburg International Airport terminal designed by Luis Vidal + Architects, Gensler, and HDR opened to passengers
The new addition to Portland International Airport by ZGF debuted to great fanfare last year. On its heels, a new airport terminal designed by Luis Vidal + Architects, Gensler, and HDR opened this year in Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh International Airport terminal is meant to exemplify the city’s evolution, blending cutting-edge design, regional identity, and passenger-centered innovation, the design team shared.
Over 90 percent of the terminal’s labor and materials were sourced locally. PIT2Work, an apprenticeship program connecting students to construction trades, was also involved in the undertaking.
Trump appointed Andy Byford to lead Penn Station’s overhaul
If Penn Station is Excaliber, will Londoner Andy Byford be New York’s King Arthur?
Today, the battle over Penn Station’s future is still in gridlock. But the Trump administration’s decision to appoint Andy Byford to lead the hub’s overhaul as Amtrak Board of Directors Special Advisor gave many transit advocates reason to hope.
In August, Byford announced a $43 million grant to solicit a master developer that will oversee the monumental public-private partnership necessary to overhaul Penn Station. Byford said he is open to through-service at Penn Station and moving Madison Square Garden.
Byford and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also said they want shovels in the ground by the end of 2027—Byford called it a “very aggressive timeline.”
The Regional Plan Association, ReThinkNYC, the ASTM/PAU/HOK coalition, the Grand Penn Community Alliance, City Club of New York, Beaux-Arts Atelier, and other advocacy groups are still duking it out to design the train shed. Only time will tell if the Trump administration’s executive order mandating neoclassical architecture will impact Penn Station’s redesign.
Grimshaw, Gruen Associates and Arup delivered LAX/Metro Transit Center
Los Angeles has long been ridiculed for not having train access to its airport. Thanks to Grimshaw, Gruen Associates, and Arup with the LAX/Metro Transit Center, Los Angelenos can enjoy much easier commutes.
The $900 million project, nearly a decade in the making, knits together the Metro’s north–south K and east–west C lines, creating a new gateway to the city. As Los Angeles readies to host the Olympics in 2028, the light-rail stop is a welcomed addition.
Boston South Station tower by Pelli Clarke & Partners opened
In May, a new outdoor concourse at Boston’s South Station by Pelli Clarke & Partners replaced a low slung entry that leads riders to the central hall. In October, a long anticipated tower atop South Station also designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners was completed.
The 51-story residential and commercial tower transformed Boston’s skyline and the profile of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge’s majestic train station, for better or worse. AN contributor William Morgan called the tower “an engineering success but an aesthetic let down.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary announced initiative to “replace or build on” Dulles International Airport’s main terminal by Eero Saarinen
Dulles International Airport is not a designated landmark, despite its stature in the modernist canon. The U.S. Department of Transportation holds the airport’s property title. Now, the Trump administration has the Washington, D.C. airport in its crosshairs.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced this year “a new initiative to explore the revitalization of Washington Dulles International Airport,” whose main hall and control tower were designed by Eero Saarinen. In response, Liz Waytkus, Docomomo U.S. executive director, told AN it “is a preposterous suggestion to tear down Dulles.”
“As we’ve seen from the East Wing nothing is sacred to this administration,” Waytkus added. “The Saarinen terminal is one of the most significant aviation structures in the U.S. that is still in use. They’ll have a circle of architects one hundred deep to get through with any bulldozers.”
MTA rolled out new subway map
Not long after the famous “We ♡ New York” logo flop, which revisited Milton Glaser’s iconic 1976 campaign to jumpstart the city’s tourism industry after COVID, New Yorkers boarded trains to find new subway maps reminiscent of an older version by graphic design phenom Massimo Vignelli.
The new MTA maps were rolled out in April. This latest version pays homage to the one Vignelli envisioned, reprinted in 2012 by Waterhouse Cifuentes—it utilizes “a diagrammatic style, employing bold, straight lines making it much easier for the eye to follow and more suitable for digital users,” the MTA said.
The new subway map was drawn in-house by the MTA’s Creative Services Mapping Department. “The white background, bold colors, horizontal writing and use of black dots make the map more ADA-friendly and easier for people with low-vision or cognitive disabilities to read,” the MTA noted.
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