The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure approved the $547 billion INVEST in America Act, moving it out of committee. Included in the legislation is $109 billion for transit, $95 billion for passenger and freight rail and $343 billion for roads, bridges and safety over a five-year timeframe. The bill also includes $5.6 billion for Member Designated Projects, which are commonly referred to as earmarks. These projects include more than $1 billion that will benefit 237 specific transit projects throughout the country. The bill now moves to the full House for consideration.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation introduced the Surface Transportation Investment Act. The proposal authorizes $78 billion over 5 years for rail, multimodal and safety programs. The legislation includes $36 billion for rail, $27.8 billion for multimodal grant programs and $13 billion for safety programs.
The funding for rail is further broken out to include more than $25 billion over five years for intercity passenger rail and $7.5 billion for rail safety and improvement projects. Additionally, the bill includes a new $500-million-per-year grant program to eliminate grade crossings and makes improvements to the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program.