The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a more than $850 billion historic investment in support of state and local government work to increase access and safety while redressing inequities across the country. However, a recent article by Brookings contributors Ellory Monks and Shalini Vajjhala points out that the existing structure of federal and state grant application processes may inhibit the fair allocation of the funds.
federal funding
States can make creative use of federal transportation dollars
With the recent passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, many advocates, community members, and even the federal government are asking state DOTs to deliver more projects geared toward improving multimodal safety and travel options, while addressing harmful environmental impacts and climate change. Some were hoping to see larger pots of money dedicated specifically to achieving those goals, but the reality is that recipients of federal funds already have considerable latitude to fund projects that do just that.
States can target key transportation issues with federal infrastructure funds
The much-anticipated Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was finally signed by President Biden on Monday, and state DOTs are preparing for what will amount to around 50 percent more transportation spending than originally planned for over the next five years. The act includes an additional $110 billion for roads and bridges, $11 billion for safety, $39 billion for public transit, and $66 billion for freight and passenger rail (a five-fold increase).
How best to get our economy and jobs back: Lessons from ARRA
The current COVID-19 pandemic has created unique transportation challenges for cities and states. This includes everything from maintaining transit with plummeting ridership to facing a needed economic recovery with major decreases in the taxes that pay for transportation maintenance and improvements. With the CARES Act passed and more stimulus and recovery funding being considered, the national experience with the ARRA funding from the last recession might hold lessons for how to jump-start the economy and job creation.
National Opportunity Zones Ranking Report
The newly created federal Opportunity Zones program will likely go down as the largest and most significant federal community development initiative in U.S. history. One way to make the most of that investment is by directing state transportation funds to further catalyze economic development in those distressed communities. This report helps identify which Opportunity Zones should be prioritized for investment in order to deliver positive economic, environmental, and social returns. It ranks 7,800+ Opportunity Zones, broken out by state, according to their smart growth potential and current social equity. It also provides a policy framework and case studies to ensure equitable, inclusive development in Opportunity Zones through transportation, land use, and development decisions.
Federal grant to increase efficiency in Midwest rail network, untangle Chicago bottleneck
Chicago has become a notorious rail bottleneck, responsible for delays that impede freight delivery, Amtrak, Metra passenger service, and even drivers trying to cross rail lines. Now, one of the worst tangles—the 75th Street corridor—is about to get a little better thanks in part to a federal grant.
Federal bill continues support for transportation programs
The new federal “omnibus” appropriation bill, enacted March 23, provides over $86 billion for the U.S. Department of Transportation, a record funding amount and an increase of almost $10 billion from U.S. DOT’s FY ‘17 funding levels. Road, transit, and rail programs all see funding increases. The FY 18 funding levels show Congress’s commitment to robust federal investment for important state and local infrastructure projects.
Avoiding a government shutdown, Congress agrees to fund popular transportation programs
On May 4, Congress passed a spending deal to fund the government through the end of the current fiscal year (FY2017) that ends on September 30, 2017. In this agreement, Congress accommodated President Trump’s requests for more defense and security spending but maintained and even increased funding for many programs that the Administration had proposed to cut or eliminate. And this ended up being good news for transportation projects around the country.
Avoiding a government shutdown, Congress agrees to fund popular transportation programs
On May 4, Congress passed a spending deal to fund the government through the end of the current fiscal year (FY2017) that ends on September 30, 2017. In this agreement, Congress accommodated President Trump’s requests for more defense and security spending but maintained and even increased funding for many programs that the Administration had proposed to cut or eliminate. And this ended up being good news for transportation projects around the country.
CBO report suggests changes to increase productivity of federal highway program
The Congressional Budget Office just released a new report that outlines problems with the way the federal government spends money on highways and suggests some potential fixes. The report argues that financial challenges have made it even more important that highway funding is spent in the most productive way possible, i.e., maintenance should be prioritized over expansion and spending should better correspond to highways’ use and economic value.