WATCH: Pressley Slams Trump, Duffy for Unlawful Cancellation of $20M Grant for Roxbury Transit Improvements

October 16, 2026 WATCH: Pressley Slams Trump, Duffy for Unlawful Cancellation of $20M Grant for Roxbury Transit Improvements “The people of Roxbury have made their priorities clear. They have shown up, spoken up, and helped envision what a safer, healthier, more connected neighborhood can look like. Our responsibility now is to make sure that vision does not get taken away from them. Roxbury has waited long enough.” Last Month, Pressley, Wu Announced a Lawsuit Against the Trump Admin. to Protect Critical Investment in Roxbury Street Infrastructure Video (YouTube) ROXBURY – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) joined Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and local leaders at a press conference to condemn the Trump Administration’s unlawful withdrawal of a $20 million federal grant for critical street infrastructure improvements along three major corridors in Roxbury. In her remarks, Congresswoman Pressley underscored the transformative nature of this project and robust community input from Roxbury residents, who deserve to see this project move forward after decades of divestment and underinvestment in their community. Last month, Congresswoman Pressley and Mayor Wu announced that the City of Boston is filing a lawsuit challenging the Administration’s illegal withdrawal of the funds, which Rep. Pressley helped deliver to fund safety, transit, accessibility, and traffic flow improvements to essential roadways in Roxbury. The grant, awarded to the City in 2022 under the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant Program, would fund the Roxbury Resilient Corridors project, including state of good repair, safety, transit, accessibility, and traffic flow improvements to Melnea Cass Boulevard, Malcolm X Boulevard, and Warren Street. A transcript of Congresswoman Pressley’s remarks is available below and the video is available here . For video of the full press conference, click here . Transcript: Pressley Slams Trump, Duffy for Unlawful Cancellation of $20M Grant for Roxbury Transit Improvements October 15, 2026 Boston, MA Well, it is always good to be home, to be in the Massachusetts 7th, to be in the City of Boston, and certainly to be in the historic neighborhood that is Roxbury. I only wish that I was here for a celebration and not to report a crime. This is theft. The grant that was awarded after a competitive process was exactly that: awarded. It was not charity. It was an investment long overdue, and one that was consistent with the visioning of community about what is needed here. So it feels good to be home. I wish we were coming together for a different reason. Under this 2.0 version of the Trump Administration, I decided early on that our strategy to combat the lawlessness of this administration would be to combat it with the rule of law, and that we would use litigation, we would use legislation, we would use agitation, we would use organization, we would use mobilization. And that is what is necessary to resist and do everything we can to ensure that these funds that are owed are reinstated. I am grateful to our mayor for being exhaustive in defense of this federal investment. I want to underscore the investment part. Every disparate outcome in the Massachusetts Seventh, including and especially where Black folks are concerned, is not naturally occurring. It is the result of policy choices and federal divestment, and that is why this fight matters. When we talk about transportation, we are talking about much more than just how to get from point A to point B. What does it matter if we do the work collectively of making a city more affordable, more livable, if you can’t navigate it? This is about whether or not a parent can get their child to school safely. This is about whether or not an elder can get to a doctor. This is about whether or not a worker can get to their job without spending hours in transit. This is about whether or not people can breathe clean air and safely move through their own neighborhood. There is a statistic that has been ingrained in my mind from my early work on transit justice, beginning on the Boston City Council, and it’s why I founded the Future of Transportation Caucus in Washington to fight for federal investment in transportation that centers equity, accessibility, connectivity, and sustainability. But the statistic that stays in my mind is from Livable Streets, and their report that said the average Black Boston bus rider was riding, waiting, transferring an additional 60 hours a year. Now that might sound nominal, but that means that people are not experiencing a quality of life because they are in limbo. They are riding, waiting, transferring to get to work, to get to healthcare, to get to childcare, to get to church, or any place else they would like to. And that is exactly why I advocated alongside community and our mayor to secure a $20 million federal investment for the Roxbury Resiliency Corridors project. Transit justice has always gone hand in hand with racial, economic, and environmental justice, and Roxbury knows that history all too well. Melnea Cass Boulevard, Malcolm X Boulevard, Warren Street–these are some of the most important corridors in the heart of historic Roxbury. But for generations, they have reflected a transportation system that too often only prioritized cars and did not prioritize people enough, which is why you need investments in multimodal infrastructure. Roxbury has lived with the consequences: unsafe infrastructure, unreliable transit, poor air quality, some of the highest asthma rates in the Commonwealth, and the scars of urban renewal and disinvestment. So when we secured this funding, what we saw was an opportunity to do something different, to create dedicated bus corridors, safer bicycle facilities, better intersections, and more green infrastructure, more resilient streets. Pastor Bodrick, Mayor Wu, when you were referencing this unlawful action by Secretary Duffy, you might have indicated that they didn’t give a reason. They gave a reason. It’s just an unacceptable one. The reason was because there was anything in here having to do with electric vehicles and electrification because they don’t believe in climate change, and they did not want anything that had to do with the Inflation Reduction Act or the Green New Deal, and just because of that addition, they took an unlawful and rogue action to rescind this investment. But again, at the end of the day, this is about people, not concrete and asphalt. It’s about making everyday life safer and more accessible for the people who live and work in Roxbury. And again, the community helped to shape that vision. So after the federal government had awarded that Boston $20 million, this administration again canceled the funding and left the community to once again contend with the consequences. So, Roxbury should not have to keep waiting. Roxbury has been waiting. So I stand with Mayor Wu and the City as they challenge the cancelation of this RAISE grant. We secured these dollars because Roxbury deserves a transportation that works for the people who depend on it. Because communities that have experienced generations of disinvestment should not be the first to sacrifice when resources are on the line. The people of Roxbury have made their priorities clear. They have shown up, spoken up, and helped envision what a safer, healthier, more connected neighborhood can look like. Our responsibility now is to make sure that vision does not get taken away from them. Roxbury has waited long enough. — Rep. Pressley has been advocating for federal funding to support the Roxbury Resiliency Corridors Project and submitted a letter of support for the project to DOT in April 2022.  In September 2025, Rep. Pressley vehemently condemned the Trump administration’s cancellation of this essential federal grant. More information about the Roxbury Resiliency Corridors Project and the benefits it would bring is available here . In July 2025, Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Markey re-introduced the Freedom to Move Act , their legislation to support state and local efforts to establish public transportation as a public good through fare-free services. In August 2025, Rep. Pressley, Sen. Markey, and Mayor Wu announced their continued efforts to implement fare-free public transportation in Boston and across the Commonwealth. In August 2026 , Rep. Pressley and Sen. Markey released a new report , Making Transit Free, Frequent, and Reliable: Massachusetts shows the need for federal investment in fare-free transit, detailing the need for increased federal investments in fare-free transit. In December 2025, Rep. Pressley led 14 colleagues in sending a letter to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves and Ranking Member Rick Larsen urging they prioritize affordability, accessibility, and sustainability in crafting the Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill—including by investing in fare-free transit. These priorities reflect the mission of the Future of Transportation Caucus, which reimagines America’s transportation systems to center equity, access, and sustainability. In October 2019, Rep. Pressley founded the Future of Transportation Caucus , a Congressional caucus focused on centering equity, access, and sustainability in our transportation systems. Rep. Pressley also co-chairs the Congressional Bike Caucus. ### Back to News Next Article Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email