As reported by Better Roads, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee recently released the text of its surface transportation bill, the MAP-21 Reauthorization Act.. The bill, which reauthorizes surface transportation projects through 2020, would provide for the following:

• Six years of fully-funded highway programs
• Greater transparency of Highway Trust Fund (HTF) use
• Increased support for existing core formula programs
• Targeted funds for projects of national or regional significance
• Fully-funded freight and goods movement program
• Improved Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program
• Expanded flexibility for state and local governments
• Authorization of awards program for state and local governments
• Acceleration of project delivery
• Funding for tribal and federal lands
• Continued state and metropolitan planning

If enacted, the bill would provide additional funding in the following areas:

…the core highway program would get a nearly $4 billion boost, from $38.44 billion in 2015 to $42.59 billion in 2020, and the TIFIA program would get $1 billion annually for six years. The bill also calls for the establishment of a national freight network, which would get $400 million in 2016, with that amount rising to $2 billion by 2020.

As previously reported on Conduit Street, the Administration released its long-term transportation funding plan to Congress on April 29.  As noted in the Better Roads article, the “administration’s proposal would authorize about $25 billion more annually than the Senate EPW’s.”