Those of us steeped in the “business” of transportation were optimistic when the Trump Administration proposed to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure. That optimism waned last week when the White House, in total contradiction, recommended cutting billions of dollars from existing transportation and public transit infrastructure programs in its proposed “Skinny Budget” for Fiscal Year 2018.

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Manjoo: Clean air was once an achievable political goal The budget suggests new transit projects be funded by the localities that use and benefit from “localized” projects.

Recognizing that safe and efficient public transportation is critical not only at a local level but also to a global economy and economic competiveness, the federal government has historically taken responsibility. In 2015, Congress reaffirmed this responsibility authorizing $2.3 billion annually, through 2020, specifically to fund projects like VTA’s BART extension, and we need them to stay the course.

For over a decade, VTA has been working diligently to meet all the federal grant requirements to deliver all 16-miles of the extension of BART into Santa Clara County. The federal government recognized the merits of the project in 2012, executing a grant agreement for $900 million for the first 10-mile phase of the project.

Phase 1, the Berryessa Extension, which begins at the Warm Springs Station in Fremont, is under budget and ahead of schedule. Construction is 94 percent complete, system testing is underway and service into Milpitas and San Jose is set to begin before the year’s end.

But in order to realize the full benefits of the regional connection to BART, the next six miles through downtown San Jose to Santa Clara is essential.

In March 2016, VTA entered the first phase of the federal funding pipeline to deliver that extension. VTA is on schedule to have the required federal environmental clearance in December. At that time we will qualify to apply for a federal grant for $1.5 billion.

Santa Clara County residents have stepped up time and time again, taxing themselves for public benefit. The BART Silicon Valley phase 2 funding plan includes more than 50 percent local funds, 20 percent more than what’s being asked from the federal government.

The idea that this mega infrastructure project or any other major transportation infrastructure could be considered “localized” is ludicrous. While the project may have a six-mile geographical footprint, it provides local, regional and national economic and employment benefits during construction and operations.

Locally it expands the regional BART system to serve the three largest cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Money invested in these projects supports an entire supply chain of American companies and their employees.

The US Department of Transportation “Buy America” provisions ensure that transportation infrastructure is built with American Made products. For every $1 invested in the $4.7 billion project, the economy is estimated to get $4 to $10 in return.

It is established that California residents get less than they give in federal support. Cuts to the federal grants program for transportation would not just put public transit projects at risk but also puts the associated thousands of direct and indirect jobs at risk.

In this funding competition, VTA has played by all the rules and is just about to cross the finish line – but that line could be moved.

The President’s proposed “Skinny Budget” for Fiscal Year 2018 is the first of many steps in the federal budget process. Any good businessperson can see the American economy and communities of all sizes, including ours, would be losers if the proposed reductions of federal grants for transportation projects are enacted.

Jeannie Bruins is VTA’s 2017 board chair and a council member and former mayor of Los Altos. She wrote this for The Mercury News.