An analysis of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, recently conducted by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), found that nearly half of the $1.2 trillion measure would be allocated to federal highway, bridge, and public transportation improvements.
The package includes a $370 billion, five-year reauthorization for surface transportation programs, as well as $86 billion in supplemental resources for the same programs.
The group’s analysis found that while the bill allocated $347.8 billion over the next five years to highways, the total only represents a 24 percent increase from the current year ($46.4 billion) when compared to the first year of the IIJA ($57.5 billion). Coming in at 35 percent of the total package, the funding amount also included $1 billion per year for EV charging, $95 million of University Transportation Centers, $1.25 for the Appalachian Development System, and $9.25 billion on a bridge discretionary grant program.
The bill would also make significant policy changes, specifically codifying former President Donald Trump’s “One Federal Decision” executive order to consolidate permitting for major infrastructure projects into one single environmental document and finalizing the environmental review process within an average time of two years.
Public transportation would receive $91.2 billion under the legislation, over 9 percent of the total package. Spending on public transit would grow from $10.2 billion in 2021 to $13.4 billion in 2022 – a 31 percent increase, while the Capital Investment Grant program would receive $3 billion per year to support light-rail and other capital-intensive transit projects – a nearly 31 percent increase over the current funding. Another $21.3 billion would be allocated in guaranteed spending for public transportation programs, $8 billion of which is for CIG program projects.
“The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), on behalf of the public transportation industry, commends the U.S. Senate for its bipartisan efforts to advance the ‘Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.’ This proposed legislation is a vital and necessary step to provide the transformational investment in public transportation infrastructure that our country so desperately needs,” APTA President and CEO Paul Skoutelas said. “Our nation needs bold investments in public transportation to tackle climate change, advance equity issues, and provide our growing communities sustainable mobility options. While this legislation makes critical investments to our surface transportation infrastructure and its passage is vital to creating a 21st Century transit network, there is still more work to be done.”
The remaining funds, the analysis showed, would be invested in other physical infrastructure activities like airports, rail, broadband, and energy.