公共交通官员 - 强调过境在经济发展，可持续性和自然策划反应中的作用 - 推动了一项白宫提议，要求从美国运输预算中削减24亿美元，包括淘汰资本赠款和老虎计划。

同样，诸如Uber之类的破坏性技术将如何影响火车和公共汽车的作用，该行业正在发展朝着提供整体流动性的身份发展。“我们需要考虑移动人员和商品和服务，而不是汽车，卡车和公共汽车，”华盛顿州运输部秘书的罗杰·米拉尔（Roger Millar）说。

Dick White, acting president and CEO of the American Public Transportation Association, noted that the American Society of Civil Engineers rated U.S. transit infrastructure a D+. APTA estimates that $100 billion is needed to bring it into a state of good repair, White told reporters at a press conference during APTA’s annual meeting and exposition, held in Atlanta this month.

Nat Ford, CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, noted that, after the city was hit by Hurricane Nate, the agency evacuated 600 people and, since then, has been transporting relief workers. “We are looking at automated vehicles as an opportunity to be more efficient and responsive to customer needs,” he added.

亚特兰大大都会快速运输管理局（MARTA）的总经理兼首席执行官基思·帕克（Keith Parker）建议，该系统传统上不受国家支持，直到最近才成为资金投票计划的不断失败者，现在是经济发展的关键人物。

Parker recalled that, not long after he took the job five years ago, he got a call from Georgia’s economic development director: Mercedes-Benz was considering moving its headquarters to Atlanta. “They needed MARTA to make the deal work,” he said. “Everything has been different since,” with millions of dollars of corporate investment in transit-oriented development invested in Atlanta.

Further, private investors are putting a stake into high-speed rail—in Texas.

德克萨斯州中央合作伙伴有限责任公司外部事务副总裁特拉维斯·凯利（Travis Kelly）告诉与会者，Dallas和休斯顿之间的240英里系统即将出现EIS草案。他说，日本制造的火车将在三个车站之间最高时速达到200英里 /小时。该公司已经获得了通行权的30％。

Another hot topic was the Hyperloop, a project that aims to partner with high-speed rail and other transit, said Dan Katz, counsel for Hyperloop One. A recent test of the low-pressure-tube electromagnetic propulsion system reached a 192-mph top speed on a 300-meter-long guideway.

卡兹说：“我们打算补充”多模式网络。