55 FHWA Programs You Won’t Have to Kick Around Anymore

We reported yesterday that the president’s six-year transportation plan proposes simplifying federal policy by eliminating 55 highway programs and rolling them all into five umbrella programs: the National Highway Program, Highway Safety Improvement, Livable Communities, Federal Allocation, and Research, Technology, and Education.

Here’s the list, from DOT, of the 55 programs they intend to consolidate. There are a few popular programs among livability advocates in here, like Safe Routes to School, bicycle and pedestrian grants, and the TIFIA loan program. If this consolidation plan is enacted, it will be up to advocates to continue to push for important projects once they no longer have a dedicated funding source.

Many transportation reformers have spoken in favor of more competitive, more flexible funding. Here it is, folks.

The programs that will be “consolidated” out of existence:

1. Interstate Maintenance (IM)
2. Highway Bridge Program (Bridge)
3. National Highway System (NHS)
4. Surface Transportation Program (STP)
5. Ferry Boat Program
6. Appalachian Development Highway System
7. Equity Bonus (EB)
8. Historic Covered Bridge Preservation
9. Puerto Rico Highway Program
10. Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)
11. Hazard Elimination & Rail Highway Crossings
12. Railway-Highway Crossings (deduction from HSIP)
13. High Risk Rural Roads Program
14. Operation Lifesaver
15. Work Zone Safety Grants
16. National Work Zone Safety Clearinghouse
17. Road Safety (Delta and Public Awareness)
18. Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality (CMAQ)
19. STP, Transportation Enhancements
20. Recreational Trails
21. Scenic Byways
22. America’s Byways Resource Center
23. Safe Routes to School
24. Transportation, Community, and System Preservation
25. Non-Motorized Pilot Program
26. Bicycle and Pedestrian Grants (Clearinghouse)
27. Highways for LIFE
28. Future Strategic Highway Research (deductions: IM, NHS, Bridge, STP, CMAQ, HSIP)
29. Great Lakes ITS Implementation
30. Indian reservation Road Bridges
31. Additional CA for States w/Indian Reservations
32. Refuge Roads (RR)
33. Public Lands Highways, Forest Highways (PLH)
34. Lake Tahoe Region MPO (deductions from IRR, PLH, PRP, RR)
35. Alaska Highway Takedown (deduction from NHS)
36. Denali Access System Program
37. Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana
38. Highway Use Tax Evasion
39. Grant Program to Prohibit Racial Profiling
40. National Corridor Infrastructure Program
41. Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program
42. Projects of Regional and National Significance
43. High Priority Projects
44. Transportation Projects
45. Interstate Maintenance Discretionary (deduction from IM)
46. Bridge Set-Aside (deduction from Bridge)
47. Magnetic Levitation Program
48. Truck Parking Facilities
49. Freight Intermodal Distribution Pilot Grants
50. Delta Region Transportation Development Program
51. Value Pricing Pilot Program
52. Pavement Marking Systems Demonstration Projects in Alaska & Tenn.
53. Road User Fees Field Test – Public Policy Center of Univ. of Iowa
54. Multimodal Facility Improvements
55. TIFIA