Congress cuts off federal funding for streetcars nationwide
H.R. 3822 — No Desire for Streetcars Act · Filed by Scott Perry (R-PA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 6, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits federal transportation funding from four major grant programs—Surface Transportation Block Grants, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Grants, Urbanized Area Formula Grants, and Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants—from being used to build, operate, or maintain streetcars. States and cities that currently receive these federal dollars would be barred from spending them on streetcar projects.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole function is to prohibit federal transportation funds from being used for a specific transit mode (streetcars). It is a straightforward restriction on how existing federal grant money may be spent, not a deregulation, subsidy, or procedural measure.
What the text implies
- Cities that have already invested local funds in streetcar infrastructure planning or early construction may find federal co-funding unavailable, potentially stranding projects or forcing local budget reallocation.
- The bill does not grandfather existing streetcar projects or commitments; it applies prospectively to all four programs, potentially affecting projects in advanced planning stages.
- The restriction applies to all four major federal transit/transportation grant programs simultaneously, creating a comprehensive federal defunding of the streetcar mode across all eligible funding sources.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens in cities that have chosen or are planning streetcar systems lose access to federal transportation funding for those projects. The bill restricts a funding option available to local governments, reducing their ability to finance transit infrastructure they may have democratically chosen. While some may view streetcars as inefficient, the bill removes choice and funding flexibility from local decision-makers and the constituents they serve.
Named in the bill
Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (23 USC 133), Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (23 USC 149), Urbanized Area Formula Grants (49 USC 5307), Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grants (49 USC 5309), States, Cities, Transit agencies
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Jun 6, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 6, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,328 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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