President Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget included $129 billion for the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The budget proposal consolidates DOT programs, institutes government reforms and cuts red tape, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. More than 55 separate highway programs would be streamlined into five core programs to eliminate overlap.
The administration’s six-year proposal would provide $336 billion, a 48 percent increase over the previous authorization, to rebuild roads and bridges, and $119 billion, a 128 percent increase over the previous authorization, in funding for sustainable and efficient transit options.
The budget would establish a National Infrastructure Bank that would leverage private capital to build complex large-scale projects that hold significant economic benefits to a region or the nation as a whole. A new competitive incentive program, called the Transportation Leadership Awards, would reward unique projects that find new ways to connect people to opportunities and products to markets.
To promote safety, the budget also would provide $50 million for the department’s ongoing campaign against distracted driving, as well as $35 million to promote seatbelt use and combat drunk drivers.
