Congress Announces $348 Million in Infrastructure Funding for Maryland Transit

WASHINGTON- Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Anthony G. Brown, Jamie B. Raskin and David Trone (all D-Md. ) announced $348,108,466 in federal funding for Maryland in fiscal year 2022 to strengthen public transit infrastructure across the state.

Lawmakers helped secure this increased federal funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) — which can be used to upgrade aging infrastructure, upgrade vehicles, expand accessibility at transit stations commonality, improving safety, ensuring fairness in transport, etc. through the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act (IIJA).

“Every day, Marylanders rely on public transit to get where they need to go. Increased federal investment in public transit is essential to making public transit safer and more reliable, reducing pollution and strengthening our economy,” lawmakers said. “That’s why we’ve worked to increase funding for public transit that will create new, well-paying jobs by building infrastructure, upgrading vehicles to newer, cleaner models, and improving service for riders. of Maryland. We will continue to fight for federal investments to improve our state’s transportation infrastructure.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a unique investment in American infrastructure that will provide more than $7 billion in federal funding directly to Maryland over five years to strengthen our infrastructure, from public transit systems to roads and bridges to water infrastructure, broadband connectivity, and more.

The law includes measures on workforce development, equity and climate change. Lawmakers worked to ensure passage of this law in Congress, which will help spur job creation, improve America’s competitiveness, and make our transportation systems more sustainable and equitable.

Nationally, the Infrastructure Building and Investments Act will provide $69.9 billion in guaranteed funding for public transit over the next five years, representing the largest federal investment in public transit history.

It will repair and upgrade crumbling infrastructure, modernize bus and train fleets, make stations accessible to all users through a new program with $1.75 billion in dedicated funding, and bring transit service to common to new communities with an additional $8 billion for investment grants.

The IIJA will help replace thousands of transit vehicles, including buses, with clean, zero-emission vehicles with an additional $21.3 billion, 5% of which is for workforce training. transit workforce to maintain and operate these vehicles.

Additionally, it will benefit communities of color that have historically had more limited access to public transportation despite being twice as likely to take public transportation.