The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has created a new transportation project grant program that replaces the Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) Grants program and makes $1.5 billion available and aims to use investment from private industry.
USDOT announced the program through a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in the Federal Register on June 29. The NOFO will remain open for 120 days.
Another goal of the INFRA program is to use public-private partnerships to increase funding availability, speed up permitting and construction time, promote safety solutions and apply performance and accountability guidelines to projects.
“The president and the department are committed to revitalizing, repairing and rebuilding America’s aging infrastructure,” says Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. “By ensuring the right incentives, projects selected under this program will be better able to make significant, long-term improvements to America’s transportation infrastructure.”
The INFRA program will award grants to large projects at a level of at least $25 million and small projects of at least $5 million. Only 10 percent of available INFRA funds each fiscal year will go toward small projects.
At least 25 percent of the funding will go to rural projects, a previous requirement mandated under the 2015 FAST Act.
