DOT Makes $9 Billion in Funding Announcements in Biden Team’s Waning Days

President Biden’s team at the U.S. Department of Transportation has been working overtime to get as much money from the bipartisan infrastructure law out the door as possible before they leave office on Monday. In the last week (or so) we have seen:

• $1.32 billion in RAISE grants (the fiscal 2025 IIJA advance appropriation portion of the program – once Congress finalizes a FY 2025 appropriation for the portion of the program under the regular budget, the Trump Administration will be able to give out that money). See here for the full list.
• $1.1 billion in grants from the Railroad Crossing Elimination Program. See here for the full list.
• $785 million in grants under the Rural Surface Transportation Grant program. See here for the full list.
• $635 million in grants under the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure program and the competitive set-aside under the National Electric Vehicle Initiative program. See here for the full list.
• $544 million in grants under the Reconnecting Communities Program. See here for the full list.
• $332 million in additional Airport Infrastructure Grants. See here for more information.
• $146 million in rail grants from the Restoration and Enhancement program, covering fiscal years 2021-2024. See here for the full list.
• $46 million in grants under the Active Transportation Infrastructure Program. See here for the full list.
• $9.6 million in a series of mass transit grants to Indian tribes. See here for the full list.
• $1.97 billion for a full funding grant agreement (FFGA) to extend the Chicago mass transit system’s Red Line 5.5 miles, from 95^th Street to 130^th Street, executed on January 10.
• $150 million for a new 24-mile bus rapid transit (BRT) line in Indianapolis, executed on January 7.
• $80 million for a new BRT line in King County, WA, executed January 15.
• $22 million for a new BRT project in Monterey, California, executed January 13.
• A $89 billion TIFIA loan to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the construction of a new downtown bus terminal

That’s $9 billion in funding or financing announced in one week. Outgoing Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, in a valedictory announcement, that “When President Biden took office four years ago, he immediately faced some of the most profound and wide-ranging transportation crises in the modern era. Through his leadership, this administration passed a sweeping investment in our nation’s infrastructure unlike anything since the Eisenhower years—and did so with the support of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Though the Biden-Harris Administration is drawing to a close, today we’re proud to announce one more major round of grants to keep that work going and further modernize our roads and rails, build out a national EV charger network, and ensure that transportation in the 21st century lives up to its basic promise and connects more communities across our nation. It’s a Big Deal.”

The announcement of the RAISE grants in particular gives us an opportunity to update our cumulative totals for this program, formerly called BUILD, and called TIGER before that. The program has, to date, had $17.9 billion in grant announcements. However, the modal preferences have differed from Administration to Administration:

There was obviously a top-down decision under the Trump Administration not to give any money to projects primarily labeled bike-ped. However, out of the huge road-bridge category under Trump, there was a noted uptick in so-called “Complete Streets” projects which, though undeniably about roads in a primary way, also include specific sidewalk and bike lane enhancements to ensure better bike-ped access.

That information in a more visual way: