Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Funds Have ‘Overwhelmingly’ Gone to Highway Projects

When it was passed in 2021, the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was touted as a once-in-a-generation investment in the nation’s infrastructure, from ports, airports, rail, and roads to clean water, internet, and public transit — all with a focus on climate mitigation and resilience, equity, and safety.

However, of the reported funds disbursed to states, more than half (around $70 billion) has gone to resurfacing and expanding highways and just one-fifth has gone to public transit, reports Oliver Milman for the Guardian, citing a new analysis from transport policy group Transportation from America.

The Transportation from America report calls the spending a “climate time bomb” that it says will lead to greenhouse gas emissions of more than 178 million tons from planned highway expansions alone by 2040, only slightly offset by emissions-reducing measures funded by the bill.

“Nothing is fundamentally changing in terms of modes of transport. This much money going into highway expansion is, for one, a liability into the future, and two, it just doesn’t work. We’ve been expanding highways for decades on decades, and everyone consistently finds themselves stuck in traffic,” Corrigan Salerno, policy associate at Transportation for America told the Guardian.