The President’s Budget for the fiscal year 2021 has been released and can be found here. The Department of Transportation begins on page 85 of the pdf. The proposed budget includes several provisions for public transportation including $13 billion in 2021 and $155 billion over the 10-year reauthorization period for Federal Transit Administration programs, to support mobility and accessibility for American workers and improve their communities. The proposal would streamline grant programs to improve flexibility and reduce administrative burdens and would focus on maintaining current transit assets to improve the state of good repair of the Nation’s transit systems. The proposal would also bolster transit systems’ safety, support underserved areas, and leverage opportunities to utilize new and emerging technologies.
Other Funding Highlights for Department of Transportation Include:
- The Budget proposes a 10-year, $810 billion reauthorizations of surface transportation programs, including highway, transit, rail, highway safety, and hazardous materials safety programs, including important reforms to provide critical investments in the Nation’s transportation infrastructure. The Budget includes an additional $190 billion for additional infrastructure investments, across a range of sectors, for a total of $1 trillion in infrastructure investment.
- The Budget eliminates a required set-aside for the Transportation Alternatives program that restricts States from choosing the most meritorious projects. This elimination provides additional flexibility to use the resources within the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program to support projects that rehabilitate or expand highways in a manner that supports interstate or regional commerce.
- The Budget requests $21.6 billion in discretionary budget authority for 2021, a $3.2 billion or 13-percent decrease from the 2020 enacted level. The Budget also provides $66.2 billion in mandatory contract authority and obligation limitations, a $5 billion or 8-percent increase from the 2020 enacted level.