Congress OKs Extension of FAST Act

Congress this week approved another extension of the legislation that authorizes federal transportation spending.

Lawmakers extended the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act through Dec. 3, which means that legal authority for federal agencies to dole out federal transportation dollars remains in effect until then.

Without the extension, those financial allotments would have been temporarily suspended on Nov. 1.

The House passed the extension on a 358-59 vote and the Senate adopted the extension by unanimous consent.

The FAST Act originally expired on Oct. 1 and this is the second temporary extension it has received.

A new surface transportation authorization law is included in the Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act – better known as the infrastructure bill – that was approved by the Senate last summer and is now pending in the House.

A vote on the infrastructure bill was delayed on Thursday due to infighting among Democrats that is linked to another dispute over the size and scope of a budget reconciliation package.

Infrastructure Bill Would Make Amtrak Policy Changes

The text of the proposed nearly $1 trillion bi-partisan infrastructure bill was revealed this week in the U.S. Senate.

As reported earlier by various sources, the bill would provide $66 billion to Amtrak with most of that money being used to address maintenance backlogs and upgrade the Northeast Corridor.

However, the text also showed the legislation would make changes to Amtrak’s legal mission.

Those include making the goal of Amtrak to “meet the intercity passenger rail needs of the United States” rather than achieving “a performance level sufficient to justify expending public money.”

There is also language that places Amtrak service to rural areas as well as urban areas.

The funding for Amtrak in the bill would allocate $1.5 billion per year for the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grants program with a 50 percent match required.

Also included in the bill is $15 million for the U.S. Department of Transportation to analyze the restoration of long-distance trains that have been terminated by Amtrak; money to fund the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program ($1 billion per year), and the Restoration and Enhancement Program ($50 million per year); and $500 million per year for rail grade crossing separation projects.

The Amtrak funding is part of an overall $102 billion package for commuter rail and other high-performance rail services.

Public transit would receive $107 billion for public transit. Some of that funding can be used for multimodal investments that include transit and passenger rail.

The legislation also contains the Senate’s version of a new surface transportation reauthorization  bill that authorizes funding for railroads, water infrastructure, public transit, highway, bridges and roads.