U.S. DOT Announces $1 Billion in Multi-Modal Grants to 47 states

What happened: The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Nov. 19 awarded nearly $1 billion in infrastructure funding through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability an Equity (RAISE) program.

Why it matters: The grants will fund 90 surface transportation projects in 47 states. This includes 63 capital grants totaling $953 million, and 27 planning grants totaling $30 million. Projects include highway expansions, bridge replacements, and transit-system upgrades.

Historical context: Since 2009, Congress has approved nearly $10 billion to support projects through this discretionary multi-modal infrastructure grant program. The Biden administration renamed the BUILD program of the Trump administration, which replaced the TIGER grants of the Obama years. While BUILD focused more on rural projects and TIGER on urban infrastructure, the first round of RAISE grants invests equally in both. The historical breakdown of grants awarded by urban and rural projects is shown above.