Many buses and trains are free today. Here's why transit officials are so worried

Today — Transit Equity Day — many Southern California public transit agencies offer free rides to all passengers to honor the birthday of civil rights leader Rosa Parks.

Parks, in case you missed elementary civics, refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white man in 1955, sparking the Civil Rights movement and leading to a Supreme Court ruling outlawing segregation on public transportation.

But this year, the Feb. 4 celebration is being eclipsed by the Trump administration’s threats to freeze federal grants, ramp up immigration enforcement and end support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and climate initiatives.

“We're celebrating what is an important milestone,” said Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, a board member of the Orange County Transportation Authority, adding that Parks “made our society better.”

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“ It's a shame that it has to be done in the shadow of what the administration is doing to create a much more divisive society,” he said.

How public transit is at risk

The Trump administration’s funding freeze, though currently paused by a judge, has created angst for public transit advocates. A little over 10% of OCTA’s budget comes from the federal government.

Overall, transit agencies in California relied on the federal government for nearly one-third of funding in the 2022-23 fiscal year, according to a memo prepared for the state’s Transit Transformation Task Force, which meets later this week in Riverside. That money is used to keep buses and trains running, electrify vehicles and expand services — like building bike and walking paths in South L.A. and expanding light rail into the eastern San Fernando Valley, which is already under construction.

Projects and programs could be in danger

“If Metro cannot get reimbursed for these projects, because that's how it works ... then these projects have to stop,” said Eli Lipmen, executive director of the transit advocacy group Move LA, and a state transit task force member.

The federal funding freeze isn’t the only Trump order that threatens local transit agencies.

The president’s reversal on DEI initiatives and electrification could also doom some projects.

Will ridership be affected?

And Trump’s threat to ramp up immigration enforcement could cause people to stay off public transit. Lipmen says even the rumor of ICE agents on buses can have a chilling effect on ridership.

How the courts can make the difference

O.C. Supervisor Sarmiento said he hopes state law and the courts will protect people’s rights from some of President Trump’s orders that he called “overreaching.”

“ I think that more reasonable minds will prevail and, you know, people will get back to celebrating things like being inclusive, being respectful of seniors," Sarmiento said. "Because when we talk about equity, we're talking about seniors; we're talking about our disabled population. So how is that a bad thing to make sure that we incorporate those populations into everything that we do?"