A longtime public transit advocacy non-profit is spending down its endowment to pass its resources to local organizations.
By Arianna Smith
Managing Editor
Transit California
At a time when transit agencies in California and across the United States are struggling with the interlinked issues of underfunded operations and low public opinion about transit services, the private foundation TransitCenter is stepping up with all the resources it has available.
In February 2025, TransitCenter announced that it will give away the entirety of its $69 million endowment to non-profit transit advocates who support the mission to “secure a more just and sustainable future with abundant public transportation options.” The “spend-down” process will take 12 years.
“For our foundation, our plan to spend down our funds will infuse much-needed support to efforts that connect communities to vital transit services around the country,” said Lisa Bender, TransitCenter Trustee and Treasurer, at the time of the announcement.
“Without stable revenue sources, public frustration with transit grows,” according to TransitCenter’s 2025 Strategic Report. “Our opponents exploit these challenges to justify continuing to prioritize road expansion, reinforcing the false notion that transit is an inherently inferior transportation mode. The reality is that transit is an essential service that lowers household costs, improves public health, creates vibrant, safe communities, and reduces emissions—but has thus far lacked the investment needed to deliver on its full potential. At the same time, the movement to change these conditions has also struggled to build sufficient power.”
TransitCenter, based in New York City but supportive of pro-transit organizations throughout the country, supports nonprofit pro-transit organizations around the country who advocate for wide availability and high quality of transportation options.
“There's some great challenges ahead for public transit: we see declining ridership across the country. We know that funding has been inadequate for public transit for quite some time in this country. Across the United States, as a country and state by state, we have a system of transportation that is designed for roadways and highways primarily, and it continuously shortchanges public transit,” said Chris Van Eyken, TransitCenter’s Program Director of Policy and Strategy.
“After an extensive strategic planning process and a forward-looking assessment of what it will take to win in the next decade, we are doubling down on our capacity as a funder,” said Fred Neal Jr., Chair of TransitCenter’s Board of Trustees and Stephanie Lotshaw, TransitCenter’s Executive Director in the introductory letter to the organization’s February 2025 Strategic Report. “We are shifting our focus to support, grow, and strengthen the movement that creates the room and provides the support for government to take meaningful action, driving the transformation of transit into a service that truly meets the needs of communities.”
TransitCenter has spent over $50 million since 2013 on transit advocacy support to local organizations, as well as on its own research and reports. With the shift to spending down, TransitCenter will largely cease its own research and shift to philanthropy. “We’re going to continue to fund research, and we’ll advise on what research should look like, but we’re going to move away from the in-house model. We will still partner with other organizations,” said Van Eyken.
The organization is encouraging other foundations with resources to take similar action with their own financial resources.
“I’m proud to be part of a foundation committed to not tightening its hold on resources, but doubling down and deploying funding to the field where it can have the most significant impact,” said Midori Valdivia, a member of the TransitCenter Board of Directors. “ We desperately need more foundations to do the same.”
TransitCenter to fund key strategy areas
According to the 2025 Strategic Report, “Advocacy for transit has been underfunded and overlooked, limiting its ability to build power and effectively counter the opposition. We are at an inflection point, one that may determine whether transit survives or disintegrates.” To help stop that dire possibility, TransitCenter will focus its philanthropic support on meeting several goals.
First, TransitCenter will support local efforts to build an active, organized base of transit advocates across a range of constituencies. “We really want to see a robust network of grassroots folks showing up and speaking for transit,” said Van Eyken.
Second, TransitCenter will work with organizations who are looking to expand the range of stakeholders involved and positively invested in transit in their communities. Such an effort would include the business community, research and policy institutions, labor organizations, as well as governmental entities and transit agencies.
Third, the organization will work to broaden the network of philanthropic support for public transit advocacy, with the expectation that other organizations will step up to continue the advocacy work and pro-transit movement as TransitCenter sunsets. “We think that investing in this movement will help build the capacity of it as a whole, to encourage other organizations to invest in the transit movement,” explained Van Eyken. “So, hopefully, 12 years from now, when our endowment is spent out, we'll have other organizations really looking towards advocates – grassroots at the state and national levels that work.”
Finally, with what is perhaps the most long term goal, TransitCenter is looking to change existing, unfortunately common, negative narratives surrounding transit. “We're doing polling and message testing, really trying to find a way to shift the conversation about public transit in the United States,” said Van Eyken. “Folks talk about public transit as a failing institution, as something that's undesirable. We really want to uplift public transit and find ways to talk about it, that makes folks feel inspired if people want to use it, that makes people see it as an asset to their city or their region.”
For more information
TransitCenter has previously funded and worked with transit advocacy non-profit organizations in California, in part because the state has several conditions that are already favorable to public transit, including existing transit networks, proposed projects, and density; pro-transit entities at the state and local levels; and several mobilized grassroots organizations.
Association members and transit advocacy non-profits who want to learn more about TransitCenter’s future and its drawdown plans, as well as possible philanthropic funding opportunities and eligibility, can contact Chris Van Eyken at cvaneyken@transitcenter.org.