President Barack Obama released his FY 2011 budget on Feb. 1, calling for a .6% increase, $41.363 billion, in federal-aid highway spending while requesting SAFETEA-LU to be extended through March 2011. The administration is hoping it will be able to work with Congress to fundamentally reform highway financing. There also is a call for another Highway Trust Fund fix, with $20 billion being pulled from the General Fund.
The budget also gives more life to the administration’s call for livability and sustainability. The president requests the creation of an Office of Livable Communities within the U.S. DOT to coordinate efforts between DOTs, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The budget also calls for $4 billion to create within the U.S. DOT a new National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund. It is proposed that the office will provide grants and credit assistance for a variety of surface transportation projects, including: highway, tunnel, bridge, transit, commuter rail, passenger and freight intermodal facilities, passenger rail, Amtrak, airports and ports. The projects are to be of national or regional significance and be valued at $25 million or more. Projects of less than $25 million can be approved in areas with smaller populations. An additional criterion for funds under this proposed program is that the projects increase the environmental sustainability of the transportation network in the region. There also is a request of $600 million in discretionary funds for grants to state and local governments and transit agencies for projects of national, metropolitan or regional significance.
High-speed rail could receive an additional $1 billion in funding in 2010.
