House Passes $1T Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill - GVF Update
Finally, at last, we almost have a signed infrastructure bill. On Monday, November 15th, barring an unforeseen change, President Biden will sign off on the first major infrastructure bill in quite some time. The bill has many transformative programs that we are very much looking forward to moving ahead with. I have personally spent the past few years pushing this bill and working to integrate the definition of TDM (Transportation Demand Management) into the bill. While we were successful in having the TDM language integrated into the original House bill, it ultimately was not included in the final bill. However, we have been successful in my role as Public Policy Chair for ACT to integrate TDM opportunities throughout the infrastructure bill. We’re going to continue to look for paths to integrate the definition. Thank you to the many elected officials and staffers who have helped in this endeavor over the past few years.
Now that we are very close to having a signed bill, I wanted to highlight what this could mean for our communities. As you are aware there are dollars for highways and bridges, historic funding for public transit, and many other important investments. I want to however focus on some of the programs that we would like to work with you on as we focus on our ongoing challenges with mobility, climate, and resiliency for Pennsylvania.
Carbon Reduction Program: $6.4 Billion FY 22-26. Formula funding to states to reduce their carbon impact
PROTECT Program: $7.3 Billion between FY 22-26. Formula funding to states to protect the resiliency of infrastructure assets.
PROTECT Program: $1.4 Billion between FY 22-26. Discretionary funding from US DOT to protect the resiliency of infrastructure assets.
Healthy Streets Program: $500 Million between FY 22-26. Competitive grant program with the goal of developing healthier streets.
Congestion Relief Program: $250 Million between FY 22-26. Competitive grants for urban areas with a population of 1 million or more. The purpose of this program is to reduce highway congestion and the costs related to highway congestion.
Grants for charging and fueling infrastructure: $2.5 Billion between FY 22-6. Competitive grant program.
EV Charging: $5 Billion between FY 22-26. Formula funding to states through the National Electric Vehicle formula program.
Safe Streets and Roads for All (Vision Zero): $6 Billion between FY 22-26. Competitive grant awards through USDOT
Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program: $1 Billion between FY 22-26. Competitive grant awards through USDOT. Projects should provide safe and connected active transportation facilities in active transportation networks or spines. No less than 30% of eligible projects must connect people to mobility options.
As this bill moves forward and PennDOT begins to adopt guidelines for these and other initiatives, I encourage you to work with us and let us know where there are opportunities to invest in our communities so that we can continue to build a resilient, healthy, and economically prosperous community of tomorrow for all.
