Charlottesville’s robust transportation system is one of the strongest achievements of the city. Charlottesville Area Transport, the University Transportation Service and Airbus are all readily available for students to navigate within and outside of the city comfortably without their own car. However, the Federal Department of Transportation is set to undergo significant deregulation after President Donald Trump’s addition of two new executive orders in February of 2025. These regulations are characterized by the removal of environmental regulations, reduction in funding and slashing of jobs in the department. These significant changes will threaten students’ ability to utilize public transportation throughout the city and Virginia if unchecked.
Ensuring that first-years and students without their own car have convenient ways of transportation is important and has been a focus in Charlottesville. CAT allows students to easily travel throughout Charlottesville with a wide array of routes and destinations, while UTS provides convenient transportations to various locations at the University. Likewise, Airbus, which is operated by the UVA Student Council, offers convenient transportation to and from airports, which is extremely important for out-of-state students going home for breaks. While these methods of transportation may not be directly affected by this new legislation, Charlottesville’s significant efforts in transportation are a great example of the benefits of prioritizing transportation.
The Federal Department of Transportation will be severely deregulated by President Donald Trump’s new executive orders. The first executive order seeks to “[end] federal overreach” through the deregulation of various federal agencies, one of which is the DOT. The second one seeks to liberate the economy by implementing massive layoffs, getting rid of employee protections and focusing less on emission standards.
The public should absolutely be concerned by these policies, as the regulations that have served to protect us for so long are under significant duress. Specifically, the reduction of funds in public transportation may leave University students stranded without convenient means of transport. But more broadly, the environmental impacts that deregulation may have are long-lasting. Potential environmental concerns, the response to deregulations and potential ramifications for University students’ transportation are all important factors that must be addressed by Virginia legislators.
In addition to deregulating the trucking industry and deemphasizing the Biden-Harris administration’s support for electric vehicles, Trump has also shown a desire to direct funding away from public transportation. As University students, we are well aware of the importance of public transportation and its critical role in helping us reach our destinations. With these new policies drastically reducing government support for the public transportation sector, ramifications could be significant. Methods of public transportation and infrastructure expansion that are incredibly important to University students may be under threat with this new administration.
Beyond disadvantaging students who use public transportation, the deregulation of these services will have an impact on widely used services by Virginians of all areas and backgrounds. Bus systems which are funded by cities, like Charlottesville’s own CAT bus service, may face cuts to their funding which impacts its breadth and accessibility of service. And for working-class individuals that regularly use this free service, this not only presents an inconvenience but a weighty pressure upon their ability to work and access basic services. This blank deregulation is a dangerous mishandling of federal funding that clearly ignores public safety and environmental ramifications in exchange for economic benefits that may not even come to fruition.
By deregulating the transportation industry, Trump directly threatens to destroy the progress that the federal government has made to reduce emissions in the past decade. Emissions since 2016 have been reduced by approximately 11 percent, which shows that the country has been heading in a good direction. Currently, the transportation sector contributes to 28 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, which is not insignificant. In Virginia, transportation emissions make up an even bigger portion of our carbon dioxide footprint, contributing to over 42 percent of emissions in the state. In order to continue their environmental efforts, the UTS intends to provide electric minibuses and electric full sized buses. While it would be possible for Virginia legislators to try implementing local regulations, it will prove ineffective if the federal branch fails to enforce these regulations.
While it is too early to see the results of these deregulations, there is undoubtedly a risk of large emissions spikes and negative impacts on human health. The reduction in environmental expenditure in transportation seeks to undo much of the progress attempted by the Biden-Harris administration. For example, the Biden-Harris administration, in conjunction with the DOT, funded a Climate Change and Transportation Research Center at University of California Davis, showing the previous administration’s commitment to facilitate collegiate research and combating climate change. However, the Trump administration seeks to hinder University funding and to undo the environmental efforts made by the former administration.
It is important that the state of Virginia actively protests these dangerous deregulations and helps to prevent any further damage being done. Although it will be difficult to combat the excessive executive power wielded by the Trump administration, it is important that state legislators insert themselves into the conversation even though the Trump administration clearly has no interest in what they have to say. These changes affect students and the University as maintaining and modernizing our forms of transportation is paramount to providing positive transportation experience for Charlottesville residents. Unfortunately, these changes threaten the environmental efforts and convenience that we should be striving for in transportation. Our state legislators must do their part to counteract what could be greatly detrimental changes to transportation infrastructure in the United States.
Alex Shrauger is an opinion columnist who writes about academics for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at opinion@cavalierdaily.com.
The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Cavalier Daily. Columns represent the views of the authors alone.
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