The Transportation Department is engaging with lawmakers by sending out a spreadsheet filled with specifics in what promises to be a pitched debate over President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan.
Edward McGlone, deputy assistant secretary for congressional affairs, created the spreadsheet for Democratic and Republican lawmakers proposing how the $621 billion in transportation money would be spent, according to a report by RollCall.
Of that $621 billion, $50 billion would be for what the administration describes as “cross-cutting resilience investments,” which is spending to build infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather. The biggest categories include $115 billion for roads and bridges and $174 billion to support the electrification of vehicles. Of the road money, $50 billion would go toward modernization, $40 billion for bridges, $5 billion for Community Transportation Block Grants, and $5 billion for a program called transportation alternatives.
The roads program would also include $10 billion for a carbon reduction program and $5 billion for congestion and air quality. Zero-emission transit vehicles would also get $25 billion.
A total of $85 billion would go toward transit, including $55 billion for transit state of good repair, and $25 billion for transit expansion.
The spreadsheet also included $44 billion for “Accelerating Transformative Projects,” which are aimed at speeding up shovel-ready and other high-impact projects. That figure includes $25 billion for a “Transformational Infrastructure Projects Fund,” $5 billion to expand the existing Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant program, $3 billion to expand the Infrastructure For Rebuilding America (INFRA) program and $2 billion for research projects.
