OLR Report 2016-R-0001 provides a brief summary of the FAST Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on December 4, 2015. The act provides $305 billion in federal funding for transportation projects over five federal fiscal years (FFYs 2016 to 2020). It is the first long-term comprehensive transportation law since 2005.
The act includes $225.2 billion for highway investment, $61 billion for federal transit programs, and $10 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak. States will get about a 5.1% increase in funding in FFY 16 and annual increases ranging from 2.1% to 2.4% in subsequent years.
Connecticut will receive about $3.5 billion over five years, or about $700 million annually, for highway and transit programs, which is about $62 million more per year than Connecticut received in 2015. The state Department of Transportation says the act’s importance isn’t in the amount of money it provides, which does not change dramatically from previous levels, but in the predictability and assurance of funding it provides.
For more information, read the full report here.
