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In the final weeks of the Biden administration, federal agencies authorized nearly $9 billion in grants and loans for transportation and infrastructure projects.
The US Department of Transportation’s Build America office loaned $1.89 billion to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for the reconstruction of the New York City Center Bus Terminal, which serves on local and intercity buses. The loan will help replace the dilapidated 74-year-old bus terminal, which serves more than a quarter of a million passengers a day, with a modern, expanded facility.
Grant awards were among programs targeting rural mobility needs, bus rapid transit, airports, electric vehicle charging, and pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.
Grants from federal transportation agencies so far in January consisted of the following.
Department of Transport:
- $1.32 billion for 109 infrastructure projects under the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity discretionary grant program. Awards included off-street bike lanes, ADA-compliant sidewalks and roadway widening in Flagstaff, Arizona; street improvements in Sarasota, Florida; and rehabilitation of the West Newton Bridge in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
- $785 million for 24 projects through the Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program. Projects included replacing a bridge in Cullman, Alabama, and replacing dirt roads in two Kansas counties with paved roads and stormwater infrastructure.
- $544 million for 81 communities under the Reconnecting Communities Pilot discretionary grant program. Nearly $27 million will go to the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles to create a network of accessible pathways in the Watts neighborhood, while more than $85 million will go toward roofing a section one block off US Route 40 in Baltimore.
- More than $332 million for 171 projects through the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Infrastructure Grant Program. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will receive $84.3 million for a new taxiway and bridge, and $6.7 million will go to Florida’s Tallahassee International Airport for two new runways rolling and other improvements.
Federal Highway Administration:
- $635 million for 49 projects to install more than 11,500 electric vehicle charging ports, along with hydrogen and natural gas recharging infrastructure, in 27 states, tribal communities and the District of Columbia.
- $44.5 million in grants to 14 projects from the Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program. Detroit will get $10.5 million to build part of a greenway along a former rail corridor; the Nashville-Davidson County Metropolitan Government will receive nearly $9.4 million to connect a historically underserved neighborhood to downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
Federal Traffic Administration:
Federal Railway Administration:
Announcing a selection of these projects on January 10, Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg said these grants “will further modernize our roads and railways, build a national network of electric vehicle chargers and ensure that transport in the 21st century deliver on its core promise and connect more communities across our country.”
