Looking Down the Tracks: A Case for More Predictable Intercity Passenger Rail Funding

Speaker: Rebecca Higgins, vice president of policy, Eno Center for Transportation

When the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expires in September 2026, federal funding for intercity passenger rail will be at risk of returning to its former, unstable model.

Federal funding for Amtrak has mostly been marked by annual appropriations and underfunding—without a dedicated revenue source. The IIJA broke the mold of this short-term framework by providing $66 billion for passenger rail over five years.

In her recent paper, Looking Down the Tracks: A Case for More Predictable Intercity Passenger Rail Funding, Rebecca Higgins argues for the adoption of a long-term federal funding strategy. She joins us to outline how such model would improve efficiency, continue growing ridership, and provide investments befitting the undeniable importance of passenger trains.

Higgins’ prior experience includes an appointment in the Biden-Harris Administration at the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, as well as eight years of work in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, where she led the highways reauthorization work for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.