The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Public Law 117-58), known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), was signed by President Biden on November 15, 2021. The BIL provides $1.2 trillion in funding, which includes $673.8 billion for transportation, much of which will ultimately result in transportation expenditures that will be reflected in transportation financial statistics such as the BTS Transportation Public Finance Statistics (TPFS) publication. The transportation funding in the BIL is a major infusion of funds for transportation infrastructure including roads, bridges, transit, airports, ports, and rail. The BIL also invests in other infrastructure such as energy, water, and broadband access. This statistical compilation summarizes the transportation funding that is included in the BIL.

The BIL provides federal funds in three different ways: authorizations from the federal Highway Trust Fund, authorizations from the General Fund of the Treasury subject to appropriations, or advance appropriations from the General Fund. These distinctions are used to denote whether the funding provided is derived from highway user charges and the likelihood the authorized funding amounts result in future expenditures.

Funding from the Highway Trust Fund is derived from highway user charges, plus transfers of funds from the General Fund of the Treasury (described in more detail below). These funds are provided as contract authority and do not need any additional action for them to be made available for obligation and are thus highly likely to ultimately result in future expenditures.

Authorizations from the General Fund, subject to appropriations, are funds that are derived from the General Fund of the Treasury rather than from the Highway Trust Fund and require the appropriations process in order to be made available. The amounts authorized in this way therefore may be appropriated in a lesser amount or even potentially not result in future expenditures.

Advance Appropriations are budget authority that becomes available for obligation one or more fiscal years after the fiscal year for which the appropriations act was enacted. Advance appropriations are not derived from the Highway Trust Fund, they are guaranteed from the General Fund of the Treasury. Like contract authority, advance appropriations do not need any additional action for the funds to be made available for obligation and thus are highly likely to ultimately result in future expenditures.

In the BIL, with respect to the Highway Trust Fund, Congress transferred a total of $118.0 billion from the General Fund of the Treasury into the Highway Trust Fund, consisting of $90.0 billion transferred into the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund, and $28.0 billion transferred into the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund. To learn more about the Highway Trust Fund, visit our Highway Trust Fund page.

Transportation programs in the BIL are authorized at $673.8 billion over five years. The U.S. DOT is authorized at approximately $659.9 billion of those funds. Of the total amount of $673.8 billion, $379.3 billion will go to highways, $116.1 billion will go to transit, $102.5 billion will go to rail, $25.0 billion will go to air, $7.3 billion will go to water, $1.3 billion will go to pipeline, and $42.2 billion will go to other transportation programs.

For further breakout of funds by modes, visit our BIL Mode Breakout page. 

Surface transportation funding includes discretionary grants and formula grants, which combined provide most of the transportation funding in the BIL. Discretionary grants are grants that are awarded to eligible applicants on a competitive basis, and therefore are also sometimes referred to as competitive grants. Formula grants are grants that are distributed based on statutes and are also sometimes referred to as mandatory grants, non-discretionary grants, or non-competitive grants.

The BIL designates $195.9 billion in transportation funding to discretionary grant programs over five years. Some of the largest discretionary transportation grant programs in the BIL include the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grants ($43.5 billion), Capital Investment Grants ($23.0 billion), the Bridge Investment Program ($15.8 billion), National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Megaprojects) ($15.0 billion), and Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grants ($15.0 billion).

The majority of transportation funding in the BIL, $446.2 billion, is allocated to formula grant programs. Some of the larger transportation formula grant programs include the FHWA formula grant programs. The largest of these include the National Highway Performance Program ($148.0 billion), Surface Transportation Block Grant Program ($72.0 billion), Highway Safety Improvement Program ($15.6 billion), and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program ($13.2 billion). Other large formula grant programs include the Urbanized Area Formula Grants ($33.4 billion), Amtrak National Network grants ($28.7 billion), and the Bridge Replacement, Rehabilitation, Preservation, Protection, and Construction Program ($26.7 billion).

In Section 90007 of the BIL, titled Rescission of COVID-19 Appropriations, Congress rescinds some of the funding that had previously been appropriated in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Of the unobligated balances made available in the CARES Act for Pandemic Relief for Aviation Workers (section 4120), $3.0 billion are permanently rescinded. Similarly, of the unobligated balances in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, for Pandemic Relief for Aviation Workers (section 411 of Subtitle A of title IV of Division N), $200 million are permanently rescinded.

More information about the transportation funding in the COVID-19 emergency funding bills can be found on this page.