Will President Trump Make the Trains Run on Time? cover art

Will President Trump Make the Trains Run on Time?

Will President Trump Make the Trains Run on Time?

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 U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently announced the federal government will reclaim management of Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, citing safety concerns, homelessness, and long-delayed repairs. He pledged new investment aligned with President Trump’s vision to revitalize the station and the city. Hours later, Deputy Secretary Steven Bradbury floated a similar move for Boston’s South Station.Are these actions long-overdue investments in critical infrastructure—or signs of an expanding federal reach? This week, Former Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, now the Emma Bloomberg Professor of Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, joins Archon Fung and Stephen Richer on Terms of Engagement to discuss.About this Week’s GuestAnthony Foxx is the Emma Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership. He previously served as the 17th U.S. Secretary of Transportation where he led the agency’s effort to advance new transportation technologies, promote public private partnerships, and address past inequities in transportation decision-making using executive authority. Among his initiatives at the Department of Transportation (DOT) were releasing the world’s first national guidance on integrating driverless vehicles into the transportation system, successfully advocating for long-term transportation funding on a bipartisan basis, launching the agency’s first Smart City Challenge, advancing commercial uses of unmanned aircraft systems, starting the Build America Center to advance public-private partnerships in U.S. infrastructure and updating departmental guidance under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for the first time in 40 years. Under his leadership, transportation fairness became a requirement for discretionary grant-making, and, having deployed more than $30 billion in grants over his tenure, new examples of more equitable, context-sensitive transportation projects in urban and rural areas are still being planned or are under construction today. Other initiatives to promote greater fairness included a national design challenge known as Every Place Counts and a national summit of ordinary Americans to share best practices on impacting the public input process in local and state transportation decision-making.Prior to his tenure at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Anthony served as Mayor of Charlotte, the 54th and youngest in the history of the city. About Terms of Engagement From rank-choice voting to reconciliation, American democracy is headline news. Let’s talk about it. Join Harvard Ash Center's Archon Fung and Stephen Richer for a weekly conversation about the latest developments in American politics. Blending perspectives from both the political right and left, Terms of Engagement addresses breaking news, providing insights from research and practice to deliver a unique perspective you won’t hear anywhere else. Contact UsSend questions, ideas, and feedback to us at info@ash.harvard.edu. About the HostsArchon Fung is the Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. His research explores policies, practices, and institutional designs that deepen the quality of democratic governance with a focus on public participation, deliberation, and transparency. He has authored five books, four edited collections, and over fifty articles appearing in professional journals. He received two S.B.s — in philosophy and physics — and his Ph.D. in political science from MIT.Stephen Richer is the former elected Maricopa County Recorder, responsible for voter registration, early voting administration, and public recordings in Maricopa County, Arizona, the fourth largest county in the United States. Prior to being an elected official, Stephen worked at several public policy think tanks and as a business transactions attorney.  Stephen received his J.D. and M.A. from The University of Chicago and his B.A. from Tulane University.Stephen has been broadly recognized for his work in elections and American Democracy.  In 2021, the Arizona Republic named Stephen “Arizonan of the Year.”  In 2022, the Maricopa Bar Association awarded Stephen “Public Law Attorney of the Year.”  In 2023, Stephen won “Leader of the Year” from the Arizona Capitol Times.  And in 2024, Time Magazine named Stephen a “Defender of Democracy.” About the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and InnovationThe Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, a research center at Harvard Kennedy School, is Harvard’s hub for the study, discussion, and analysis of democracy. The Ash Center’s mission is to develop ideas and foster practices for equal and inclusive, multi-racial and multi-ethnic democracy and self-government. Music Credit: Straight to the Point, Music Media Group
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