The bill would also lessen surface level public transit investment by 20% and eliminate the advance appropriations provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which has funded surface-level transportation in America for the last five years, is up for reauthorization in Congress. In a temporary spending bill passed Sept. 1, Congress voted to reduce surface-level public transit investment by 20% and passenger rail by 83% from current levels, according to the American Public Transportation Association.
The continuing resolution bill would also extend transportation programs funded by the Highway Trust Fund at fiscal year 2026 levels but would not continue the advance appropriations provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Dan Zukowski writes for Smart Cities Dive.
Smart Cities Dive reports:
Leaving out the advance appropriations would “immediately disrupt and delay ongoing planning, engineering, and construction of surface transportation projects across the nation,” APTA President and CEO Paul Skoutelas said in a July 31 letter to House and Senate leaders.
Surface-level transportation reauthorization happens every five years in the United States. The last period of funding provided a historic $673.8 billion to transportation programs over five years, spread across highways, transit, rail, aviation, pipeline and other programs. The original reauthorization deadline was Sept. 30, but Congress' continuing resolution bill will push the deadline to Dec. 11 if signed by Pres. Donald Trump.
Read the full story: House sends stopgap funding bill to White House with less transportation funding
Surface transportation funding extended to mid-December
The temporary spending bill reduces public transit funding by 20% and passenger rail funding by 81%.
Restoring Solvency to the Highway Trust Fund
The Highway Trust Fund, the nation's source of road and bridge funding, went bankrupt in 2008 and has since relied on transfers from the General Fund to supplement fuel taxes. Republican Senators have proposed a new funding source: an EV fee.
Time for a Federal Gas Tax Holiday?
Senate Democrats introduced legislation to lower gas prices by suspending the federal gas tax through the end of the year. General funds would be directed to the Highway Trust Fund to replace gas tax revenue.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
St. Louis Metro to test if single-car trains can reduce operating costs, maintain rider satisfaction
The pilot program will run from October to spring 2027, and begin with one single-car train operating on Metrolink’s Red and Blue lines.
Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines
Housing data centers in mines provides an alternative to destroying local forests and may spare residents from data centers’ noise and air pollution.
If Corpus Christi can’t revive desalination plant project, it may owe Texas $235 million
Earlier this month, city officials declined to pursue developing the plant for the second time in a year.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello