[bgill]

Yes, I know everyone gets grants. Doesn’t mean it’s right.

[Publius]

Every major public transportation infrastructure project, be it highway or rail, gets federal dollars. Highways are financed by the Highway Trust Fund and have been since the 1930's.

Large urban mass transit rail projects have received federal dollars since the first fuel crunch of 1973-74. Standards are fairy stringent for these projects to get federal money.

You may not want your tax dollars to finance a project in California, but those dollars also finance projects in your Texas.

There is a fascinating book, Getting There, by Stephen Goddard, that goes into this question, which dates all the way back to federal financing of canals in the 1820's. None of this is new.