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House, Senate Approve Five-Year, Fully-Funded Surface Transportation Bill; FAST Act: First Long-Term Bill in a Decade

Both the House and Senate voted Dec. 3 to approve the five-year, $281 billion fully-funded surface transportation authorization bill titled “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation” (FAST) Act.

The vote totals were 359-65 in the House and 83-16 in the Senate. President Obama was expected to sign the legislation today as Passenger Transport went to press.

"Last night, Democrats and Republicans came together to pass a transportation bill that will help us build on America's progress by growing our economy and creating more good jobs for our middle class," Obama said in a statement. "I look forward to signing this bill right away, so that we can put Americans to work rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges and transit systems."

Overall, funding for public transit increases by more than 10 percent in the first year and by almost 18 percent over five years. It authorizes $61 billion over the five years for public transportation and also includes a rail title that authorizes funding for intercity passenger rail grants and Amtrak.

“This is a great day for America,” said APTA Chair Valarie J. McCall, board member of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. “On behalf of the 1,500 APTA member organizations, I commend Congress for its bipartisan leadership in passing this long-term FAST Act. This legislation is critical for Americans across the country who take 35 million trips on public transportation each day, equating to 10.8 billion trips annually.” 

APTA President & CEO Michael Melaniphy said, “As the first long-term surface transportation bill in 10 years, the significance of this legislation cannot be overstated. This is excellent news for America’s public transportation systems, their riders and the small, medium and large communities they serve. A well-funded, long-term surface transportation authorization is critical to the economic competitiveness and prosperity of our nation’s communities. To sum it up, wherever public transportation goes, community grows.”

McCall and Melaniphy thanked the APTA membership for all their work, persistence and advocacy in making this legislation a reality.

In the bus and bus facilities program, the FAST Act increases funding and creates a new program of competitive grants. Overall, it increases bus and bus facilities funding from $427.8 million in 2015 to $695.8 million in 2016 and to $808.7 million in 2020. The competitive bus grant program, which includes $55 million annually for no/low emissions buses, would grow from $268 million in 2016 to $344 million by 2020.

The agreement increases the urban formula program by less than 2 percent in 2016 and by 10.6 percent over the life of the bill. It also grows the State of Good Repair program by almost 16 percent in the first year and almost 24 percent over the life of the bill.

The measure also increases funding for the New Starts program from $1.9 billion in 2015 to $2.3 billion in 2016, with flat funding in subsequent years. It also provides modest growth in the current Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities program.

The legislation retains language, which APTA opposed, that increases the domestic content requirement for rolling stock under FTA Buy America rules. The bill increases domestic content from the current 60 percent to 65 percent in 2018 and to 70 percent in 2020.

The agreement also provides $199 million for implementation of PTC systems by commuter railroads.

Find details on the 1,300-page bill here and in APTA’s Legislative Alerts.

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