U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act or "FAST Act"
| Fiscal year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Authorization | $350 M* | $230 M | $235 M | $240 M | $245 M |
*The FAST Act authorized $225 million to be set aside from the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) for FY 2016, but the later enacted Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2016 raised the set-aside amount for FY 2016 to $350 million
The FAST Act continues the Railway-Highway Crossings program, which provides funds for safety improvements to reduce the number of fatalities, injuries, and crashes at public railway-highway grade crossings.
FAST Act §§ 1108, 1412; 23 U.S.C. 130
Contract authority from the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund, subject to the overall Federal-aid obligation limitation.
The program is funded via a set-aside from each State’s apportionment for the HSIP. FHWA apportions program funds among States based on the following factors:
Each State is guaranteed to receive a minimum of 0.5% of the program funds. [23 U.S.C. 130(f)(2)]
At least 50% of each State’s railway-highway crossings funds must be set aside for the installation of protective devices at railway-highway crossings. [23 U.S.C. 130(e)(1)(B)]
Funds set-aside for the Railway-Highway Crossings Program may not be transferred to other apportioned programs.
90% [23 U.S.C. 130(f)(3)]
The FAST Act continues all prior program eligibilities. It also extends eligibility to include the relocation of highways to eliminate railway-highway grade crossings and projects at railway-highway grade crossings to eliminate hazards posed by blocked crossings due to idling trains. [FAST Act § 1412]
Apart from the new authorized amounts and eligibility (both described above), the FAST Act makes no changes to the Railway-Highway Crossings program.
February 2016
