Testimony of Shailen Bhatt
Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
Before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
June 14, 2023
Chairman Carper, Ranking Member Capito, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, otherwise known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents a once-in-a-generation investment in our Nation’s infrastructure, competitiveness, communities, and resilience to climate change, and the Inflation Reduction Act provides historic investments and new opportunities to build a clean energy economy that creates good jobs and lowers costs for working families. The FHWA is working tirelessly to implement these laws so that we can deliver on the promise of these historic investments. Safety is the FHWA’s number-one priority, and it underpins all of the work we do as we implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. I have always said that a transportation agency exists for two reasons: to save lives and to make people’s lives better. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 42,795 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2022. Almost 95 percent of people who die using our Nation’s transportation networks are killed on our streets, roads, and highways. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides resources to change this paradigm, and we are working to make these resources available to recipients as quickly as possible. At the FHWA, our mission is to deliver a world-class transportation system that advances safe, efficient, equitable, and sustainable mobility choices for all while strengthening our Nation’s economy. Our mission begins and ends with safety. The FHWA is actively implementing the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Roadway Safety Strategy and is committed to applying the Safe System Approach to reach our goal of zero roadway deaths and serious injuries. In addition to our commitment to safety, our work is guided by an initiative we refer to as “DRIVEN for the 21st Century.” There are six aspects to this initiative: Delivery, Resilience, Innovation, Values, Equity, and our Nation. This initiative will help the FHWA accomplish the U.S. DOT’s goal of delivering results and our work across the U.S. DOT’s three major areas of effort: building good things well; running our operations well in the agency; and protecting the safety and wellbeing of everyone who interacts with our transportation system. Each of the six aspects of the DRIVEN initiative guide our efforts to implement the many programs and funding opportunities authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
DELIVERY
Delivery is the first aspect of DRIVEN, and it was inspired by Secretary Buttigieg, who noted that U.S. DOT’s focus for 2023 is prioritizing delivery of results. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, we have the funding necessary to make major improvements in our transportation system. The FHWA has been working diligently to implement this historic legislation, and we have taken numerous actions that will support implementation of projects that improve safety and people’s lives.
Since the enactment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we have distributed more than $120 billion in highway formula funding to States, including funding for bridges, electric vehicles, and to make our infrastructure more resilient to climate change. This funding includes money for programs like the Highway Safety Improvement Program, which is designed to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries for all road users on all public roads, including non-State-owned roads and roads on Tribal lands. These Highway Safety Improvement Program funds supported more than 5,300 projects. HSIP funds improved 4,515 intersections and 69,075 miles of roadway. The FHWA has issued Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) for approximately $4.6 billion in available funds under ten Bipartisan Infrastructure Law discretionary grant programs and we are administering nearly 900 awards (grants and cooperative agreements) totaling approximately $7.5 billion across 9 discretionary programs, including the Office of the Secretary’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program and the Bridge Investment Program. The SS4A Grant Program provides funding to develop the tools to help strengthen a community’s approach to roadway safety and save lives.
Diverse local, Tribal, and regional communities that differ dramatically in size and location will have greater access to Federal funds to improve road safety while helping to meet equity and climate challenges. Funding for the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund more than doubled in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In February 2023, the FHWA announced the award of approximately $21 million in FY 2022 Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund funds to 70 Tribes for 93 projects that improve safety on Tribal lands. In April 2023, the FHWA issued a NOFO making up to $111.85 million from FY 2022 and 2023 funding available for the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program. The primary goals of this program are to save lives, prevent serious injuries, protect motorists and wildlife by reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions, and improve habitat connectivity for terrestrial and aquatic species.
These are more than just numbers. These dollars mean projects that will improve both safety and people’s lives. The resources provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have already resulted in numerous projects receiving funding throughout the country. For example, in Delaware, a $6 million FY 2022 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) planning grant will fund the design of Route 9 through New Castle. The plan is to convert this arterial through a disadvantaged community using Complete Streets concepts. In West Virginia, $1,887,240 in FY 2022 Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Action Plan Grants will assist rural and urban communities like Bluefield, Charleston, and Clarksburg among others across the State in improving roadway safety planning.
The FHWA is committed to helping deliver these projects faster. In April, as part of these efforts, we announced a Request for Information seeking suggestions from the public on how to best facilitate the FHWA’s implementation of Section 60505 of the Inflation Reduction Act: Environmental Review Implementation Funds. Under this $100 million program, the FHWA can provide funds to eligible entities to support environmental reviews of surface transportation projects. The FHWA may also use the funds to develop guidance, technical assistance, templates, training, or other tools to facilitate an efficient and effective environmental review process for surface transportation projects.
FHWA has long been a leader in accelerating the environmental review and permitting processes, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law offers more authorities to improve those processes that will advance surface transportation infrastructure and recognize benefits sooner. FHWA has taken numerous actions to accelerate the environmental review process. For example, U.S. DOT, in coordination with FHWA, completed a review of FHWA’s categorical exclusions (CEs) and provided interagency partners with a list of four CEs and accompanying substantiation materials for their consideration. FHWA, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) also issued joint questions and answers, providing guidance regarding the changes the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law made in 23 U.S.C. 139 and 23 U.S.C. 138.
The success of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act programs depend, in part, on streamlined delivery of funding to recipients. To be responsive to the significant changes and opportunities afforded by these laws, the FHWA stood up a new, permanent team to oversee internal crosscutting grants-management matters that affect tracking, training, outreach, and more; we also implemented process reforms across our suite of Federal grant programs. We continue to refine our management of these programs to increase efficiency and transparency, thereby benefitting the Nation via the delivery of new projects.
The FHWA also recognizes that some of the most successful projects we have seen over the past few years have a focus on multimodalism, including sidewalks, bicycle facilities, multiuse trails, Complete Streets planning, and complete multimodal networks and connections. Multimodalism is an important element of a safer system because transportation safety is all-encompassing and includes all road users. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides opportunities to improve safety for both those inside and outside of a vehicle. As we implement these programs, we need to address the national roadway fatality crisis by putting safety first for all road users.
The FHWA has taken numerous actions to improve safety for all road users, including recently releasing new guidance to support bicycle, pedestrian, and micromobility projects. In addition to describing the range of opportunities available under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve conditions for bicycling, walking, and shared micromobility, this guidance provides information on many pedestrian and bicycle funding opportunities and planning and design resources that State and local agencies can use to address safety and connectivity among multiple modes of travel.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes provisions that encourage State, Tribal, and local governments to develop Complete Streets standards or policies, as well as plans to prioritize Complete Streets projects. A Complete Street is safe—and feels safe—for all users. In January, the FHWA announced a Complete Streets Waiver: the FHWA will use a waiver of non-Federal match for certain funds that are used for Complete Streets planning activities. This waiver will help accelerate Complete Streets-related activities that can improve safety.
The FHWA has a longstanding practice of engaging with our stakeholders across the country, but we have placed an even greater emphasis on these efforts since the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. From enactment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law through May 2023, the FHWA has participated in, led, and facilitated more than 1,000 engagements with interested stakeholders, including cities, counties, special-interest groups, Tribes, and other interested parties. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law creates more opportunities for local governments and other non-traditional entities to access funding, and the FHWA is working to support these nontraditional stakeholders as they build the capacity to take advantage of these opportunities.
We also recently published a primer, Federal Highway Administration: An Overview for our Stakeholders, which is designed to provide stakeholders with an introduction to the FHWA and our work.
With so many new programs and opportunities under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, the FHWA understands that our stakeholders may need technical assistance as we work to implement this once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle the most pressing challenges of our time and ready our transportation system for the future. The FHWA has a longstanding history of providing technical assistance, and is committed to supporting our stakeholders at the State, Tribal, and local levels. In order to support stakeholders as we work together to improve our transportation system, the FHWA published a customer-friendly, public- facing, “one-stop shop” Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Implementation Website that contains useful information for stakeholders, including program guidance and fact sheets. The FHWA plans to launch a similar website for Inflation Reduction Act implementation soon.
The FHWA continues to provide technical assistance through Federal-aid and Federal-lands division offices. The FHWA has specific efforts in place to provide training and technical assistance for local and rural road agencies through the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), and for Tribal communities through seven new Tribal Technical Assistance Program (TTAP) centers. Through the LTAP and TTAP programs, we delivered more than 6,000 trainings to more than 156,000 participants in FY 2022. To support potential applicants for the many funding opportunities available, the FHWA is hosting informational webinars for newly published NOFOs to help potential applicants gather additional information and ask specific questions about the funding opportunities. The FHWA is also hosting informational webinars geared towards nontraditional recipients, such as Tribes, to provide customized support for newly eligible entities.
The FHWA will continue to engage with our stakeholders as we work together to deliver transformational investments in infrastructure.
RESILIENCE
Resilience is an important part of building a modern transportation system, as it will help us keep our infrastructure strong and fulfill our most important duty: getting people where they need to go—and getting them there safely. The transportation sector is responsible for more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than any other sector of our economy, and thus transportation must be part of the solution to tackling the climate crisis. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is notably the first infrastructure law in U.S. history that has a section dedicated to the climate; it also offers new tools to make our infrastructure more resilient and to reduce GHG emissions from America’s transportation network.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has several funding programs that are specifically targeted at addressing climate change, and the FHWA has already made significant progress in carrying out many of these programs. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law establishes the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Formula program to increase the resilience of our transportation system. This is a key program that will provide $7.3 billion of formula funding to States over 5 years. The FHWA distributed fiscal year (FY) 2022 and 2023 PROTECT Formula funds to States, providing more than $2.8 billion in Federal funding.
In addition to the PROTECT Formula Program, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established the PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program, which supports four categories of projects: planning activities, resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk coastal infrastructure. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $1.4 billion over 5 years for this competitive grant program. In April of this year, the FHWA published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the PROTECT Discretionary Grant Program, making up to $848 million in funding for FY 2022 and 2023 available to make transportation infrastructure and service more resilient to climate change and extreme-weather events. The resources made available under the PROTECT Formula and Discretionary Grant Programs will serve the American public as we work to ensure that transportation infrastructure is ready to weather the climate crisis.
As the FHWA implements the new PROTECT programs under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we remain committed to providing quick responses to meet the needs of States, local agencies, Federal Land Management Agencies, and Tribal governments when they are impacted by damages to infrastructure caused by natural disasters or catastrophic events. Under the FHWA’s Emergency Relief (ER) Program, we are providing assistance to those communities affected by recent emergencies. Last month, we announced that the FHWA will provide $749 million in ER Program funds to help 39 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico make repairs to roads and bridges damaged by storms, floods, wildfires, and other recent events.
In addition to providing unprecedented funding for electric vehicle (EV) charging, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes more than $6.4 billion for a new formula Carbon Reduction Program specifically designed to reduce transportation-related emissions. The FHWA distributed more than $2.4 billion in FY 2022 and 2023 Federal funds for this program. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also established the Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities Grant Program, a new discretionary grant program aimed at funding projects that reduce port-related emissions from idling trucks. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $400 million over 5 years for this program. In April, the FHWA published a NOFO for the program, making up to $160 million in FY 2022 and 2023 funding available.
Together, the provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will advance progress toward the Administration’s goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
INNOVATION
Innovation is essential for the future of transportation infrastructure. It will help us tackle a broad range of issues, such as improving safety, increasing the resilience of our transportation infrastructure, and finding new ways to combat the climate crisis. The FHWA’s Turner- Fairbank Highway Research Center coordinates and conducts an ambitious program of transportation research, developing technologies and innovations for highway use. The increased research funding levels provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law support further innovation through the FHWA’s Research Program, which will produce the next generation of transportation innovations. FHWA research funding also supports the Department’s University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program for which Secretary Buttigieg announced new five- year grants in February 2023. The UTC Program continues to be a valuable source of research and technology innovation, and of the future workforce of transportation.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are an excellent example of a new technology that has the potential to transform both our transportation landscape and our world, helping us to combat the climate crisis, create good-paying jobs, support sustainability, and work towards a more equitable transportation system. Electrification is also a global economic-leadership objective, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the most transformative investment in EV charging in U.S. history.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $7.5 billion in Federal funding for the construction of publicly accessible EV chargers and alternative fueling infrastructure. The EV charging provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help us tackle the climate crisis and put us on a path to create a nationwide network of at least 500,000 public EV chargers by 2030. This will help ensure a convenient, affordable, reliable, and equitable charging experience for all users.
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program will help States create a network of high-speed EV charging stations along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors, particularly along the Interstate Highway System. The FHWA distributed $1.5 billion in FY 2022 and 2023 Federal funding for the NEVI Formula Program. In September 2022, the FHWA approved the first round of State plans under the program. We also published our Build America, Buy America implementation plan to ensure that our national charging network is Made in America, as well as minimum standards and requirements for EV charging infrastructure, ensuring safety and reliability. These standards include strong labor supports, such as requiring that all electrical work performed for federally funded chargers be performed by technicians who are certified through the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program or other appropriate registered apprenticeship program. And earlier this month we released updated NEVI Formula Program guidance and accompanying questions and answers. FHWA is working with the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to have regular touchpoints with NEVI contacts in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and to provide technical assistance as needed. States now have the tools they need to implement this program.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also established the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, which provides $2.5 billion over 5 years to strategically deploy publicly accessible EV charging and fueling infrastructure, including through corridor and community grants. In March, the FHWA published a notice of funding opportunity for the program that made up to $700 million in FY 2022 and 2023 funding available to strategically deploy EV charging and other alternative fueling infrastructure projects in publicly accessible locations in urban and rural communities, as well as along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors. The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure program will facilitate broad public access to a national charging and alternative fuel infrastructure network while advancing job quality, workforce development, and workforce equity.
Innovation will help us tackle the climate crisis. The Every Day Counts (EDC) Program is a State-based model that identifies and rapidly deploys proven but underutilized innovations that make our transportation system adaptable, sustainable, equitable, and safer for all. The seventh round of the EDC Program (EDC-7) supports two innovations that are specifically aimed at climate-change concerns: (1) Integrating GHG Assessment and Reduction Targets in Transportation Planning, and (2) Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for Sustainable Project Delivery. The FHWA will leverage EPDs for Sustainable Project Delivery and the FHWA Climate Challenge “Quantifying Emissions of Sustainable Pavements” to provide education and technical assistance regarding implementing the quantification of low-carbon materials under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Low Carbon Transportation Materials Grants Program. The FHWA is working expeditiously to establish this new $2 billion program.
Innovation is also a key tool to improving safety, as new technologies have the potential to save and change lives. EDC-7 includes two important safety initiatives: (1) Nighttime Visibility for Safety, which promotes traffic control devices and properly designed lighting to improve safety for all users, and (2) Next-Generation Traffic Incident Management, which promotes emerging technologies such as emergency vehicle lighting and queue warning solutions.
In May, the FHWA announced more than $52 million in grants for eight States from the Advanced Transportation Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) Program. The ATTAIN Program promotes advanced technologies to improve safety and reduce travel times for drivers and transit riders that can serve as national examples of innovation to improve access to transportation for all communities. The FHWA supported evaluation of the first round of Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants, announced in March 2023, funding $94 million in grants across 33 States for 59 projects. SMART Grants allow public sector agencies to conduct demonstration projects focused on advanced smart community technologies and systems. The FHWA’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office launched the Smart Community Resource Center to connect States, Tribal governments, and local communities with resources that can be used to develop intelligent transportation systems and smart community transportation programs.
Innovation will allow us to integrate other modes of transportation into our roadway system, supporting not only private and commercial vehicles, but also pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, and people who use mobility-on-demand technologies. While we have engineered increased safety into our infrastructure and vehicles, it is critical that we harness technology to help realize our goal of zero fatalities on U.S. roads.
VALUES
The FHWA serves the American public, and we are focused on ensuring that we are equipped to provide important program coordination and support as the FHWA implements the numerous programs authorized under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Since the enactment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the FHWA has received approval to hire 248 new positions based on the results of an agency-wide assessment. Hiring for these positions has been underway since FY 2022, and these positions will provide support for FHWA headquarters, program, and field offices. To date, the FHWA has surpassed FY 2022 and 2023 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law hiring goals. Through May of this year, the FHWA hired 103 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded positions, surpassing the goal of 100 hires by the end of this fiscal year.
FHWA employees have worked tirelessly and faithfully to implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. While that service is evidenced by the quality of the U.S. transportation system—of which we are stewards—we are also responsible for the members of our agency. The FHWA is committed to all of our core organizational values: Public Service, Integrity, Family and Work/Life Balance, Respect, Personal Development, Diversity, and Collaboration. The FHWA is a leader within the Federal Government when it comes to mental-health awareness, supporting staff with a variety of initiatives aimed at increasing overall employee wellbeing. For example, the FHWA offers quarterly wellness webinars that provide a variety of self-help tools and resources for staff to better care for themselves and those around them. Additionally, the FHWA provides in-depth training opportunities for its employees and offers further resources, tools, and strategies for managing individual wellness.
The FHWA is committed to caring for our staff and creating a workplace where they feel physically and psychologically safe, which empowers them to create a safer transportation system for our Nation.
EQUITY
Equity is one of the FHWA’s primary values and drives every one of our programs, projects, and initiatives. We have the ability to reduce inequities in and around our transportation system by expanding affordable access to transportation and related jobs, removing barriers that might prevent individuals or communities from accessing transportation, encouraging wealth creation, empowering communities, and ensuring that equity considerations for disadvantaged and underserved communities are integrated into the planning, development, and implementation of all transportation investments. Transportation should be done with people, not to them. The FHWA understands that we should ensure that we are listening to communities and taking their needs and desires into account.
The burdens of our transportation network, including traffic fatalities, air pollution, and absence of connected networks, are disproportionately borne by underserved populations as a result of historic disinvestment and exclusion from transportation decision-making processes. Through the Complete Streets Implementation Strategy, the FHWA is supporting the planning, implementation, and evaluation of equitable streets and networks that prioritize safety, comfort, and connectivity for all people who use the street network. Implementing Complete Streets equitably includes identifying underserved communities, recognizing their varying transportation needs, and prioritizing the creation of safe, connected networks. In addition to being an Equity Strategy, Complete Streets is a Safety Strategy. By recognizing that streets and networks should prioritize the needs of all users, not only vehicle throughput, Complete Streets prioritize safety for all users at every part of the transportation process. Complete Streets is also a Climate Strategy, as Complete Streets Implementation will help to routinely provide the safe infrastructure that is fundamental to encouraging more use of low and zero carbon modes.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes grant programs specifically intended to address equity issues, such as the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, a first-of-its-kind effort to reconnect communities that are cut off from opportunities and burdened by past transportation-infrastructure decisions. Earlier this year, the Department announced a historic $185 million in grant awards for 45 projects under this program. These awards will fund construction and planning for transformative community-led solutions, including capping Interstates with parks, filling in sunken highways to reclaim the land for housing, converting inhospitable transportation facilities to tree-lined Complete Streets, and creating new crossings through public transportation, bridges, tunnels, and trails. The FHWA is funding or administering projects that reconnect communities through many of our grant programs, not just the Reconnecting Communities Program, and many FHWA-administered grant programs include equity considerations as part of their qualifying or selection criteria. In addition, the FHWA provides tools to grant applicants to assist them in addressing equity in their grant submittals.
The Inflation Reduction Act established a new Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program that will support neighborhood equity, safety, and affordable transportation access through competitive grants. The Inflation Reduction Act provided more than $3.2 billion for this program. A NOFO for this program is expected to be released this summer.
The historic investments in our infrastructure under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act will not only benefit those who use transportation infrastructure, but will also extend to those who find well-paid work rebuilding their communities. As part of this year’s Every Day Counts Program, the FHWA chose an equity-based innovation to improve the participation of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises on design-build contracting, a procurement practice often used on the United States’ largest and highest-profile projects.
The FHWA also recently announced new resources under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will create economic opportunities and open the door to wealth creation for disadvantaged entrepreneurs and workers in communities across the country. These include new guidance to support State investments in workforce development, training, and education, as well as $10 million in Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Supportive Services Funding to support small businesses owned by minorities, women, and other socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
Extending benefits to community members when constructing projects helps create wealth while making our roads safer. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act provide an opportunity to create transformation through transportation.
NATION
Every aspect of the FHWA’s work is driven by the people and the Nation we serve. There are no democratic roads or republican bridges—transportation binds us all together, which is why we must work with each other to support the common good. Roads should be accessible and equitable for all users, not just people in cars, people who do not use mobility aids, or people from wealthy neighborhoods. Our country emerged triumphant in the 20th Century due in no small part to our investment in our world-class transportation system. As we embark upon the largest-ever investment in that system, it is important to remember that if the United States is to continue to be a dominant world power throughout the 21st Century, we must once again make our transportation system the envy of the world. That means we must create a system that delivers for our economy and all of our people, including workers and communities, while getting individuals and goods safely to their destinations. A transportation system that literally unites us as Americans.
In addition to getting people where they need to go, our transportation system must also accommodate freight vehicles and the military. It is essential that we ensure the infrastructure that supported our success in the 20th Century remains an asset. The world sees our infrastructure as a symbol of our strength, and the N in DRIVEN reminds us that we must continue to support the Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET), which is critical to the Department of Defense’s domestic operations.
The FHWA is working to update and expand our transportation system so that it can continue to support all road users, including freight trucks. For example, the FHWA announced four Bridge Investment Program Large Bridge Grant Awards in January 2023. These awards will retrofit California’s Golden Gate Bridge; repair the Gold Star Memorial Bridge in Connecticut, which supported 5 million tons of freight in 2014 alone; rehabilitate four bascule bridges in Illinois, helping them to accommodate multimodal transportation and ensure communities on either side of the river remain connected while allowing barges and ships to continue to use the river; and support the Brent-Spence Bridge in Kentucky and Ohio, which transports 3 percent of the Nation’s GDP per year. These investments are part of President Biden’s broader Investing in America strategy, which is bringing economic opportunity, jobs, and investments across America. Since the President took office, private companies have announced over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing investments, and over the last 18 months, the Administration has awarded over $220 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law aimed at repairing roads and bridges, delivering clean water, deploying high-speed internet, and building out clean energy transportation infrastructure.
The FHWA is committed to working collaboratively with States, cities, local governments, Tribes, and others to make the most of the once-in-a-generation opportunity provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to invest in the future of our transportation system. Such investments will have a positive impact for generations to come.
CONCLUSION
As I noted earlier, U.S. DOT’s focus for 2023 is prioritizing delivery of results. The DRIVEN initiative will help to guide our efforts across U.S. DOT’s three major areas of effort: building good things well; running our operations well in the agency; and protecting the safety and wellbeing of everyone who interacts with our transportation system, as we implement the many programs and funding opportunities created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. DRIVEN will allow us to deliver results for both the U.S. transportation system and Americans as a whole.
Thank you again for giving me an opportunity to appear before you today. I look forward to continuing to work with every Member of this Committee to deliver on the promise of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act for the American people. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
###