	FAST Act: Overview

On December 4, 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act; P.L. 114-94 ). The act authorizes spending on federal highway and public transportation programs and surface transportation safety and research activities for five years, through September 30, 2020. The act's authorization totals about $305 billion for FY2016 through FY2020. This includes $233 billion for highways and highway safety, $61 billion for public transportation, and more than $10 billion for Amtrak. Surface Transportation Finance and the Highway Trust Fund (HTF)

Almost all of federal highway funding and about 80% of federal public transportation funding comes from the HTF. Under the FAST Act, $70 billion will be transferred from the general fund to the HTF to fund the projected difference between HTF revenues and authorized spending for FY2016 through FY2020. Of this, an average of $41 billion is provided annually for Federal-Aid Highway programs. The act includes no new congressional earmarks for highway projects. A major focus of the FAST Act is the movement of freight. The Transportation Alternatives program authorized under the previous transportation authorization law, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21 st Century Act (MAP-21; P.L. In recent years, well over $1 billion of annual CMAQ funding has been transferred to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for local public transportation projects. Financing

The FAST Act cuts the direct authorization of funding for the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program from $1 billion in FY2015 to $275 million in both FY2016 and FY2017, $285 million in FY2018, and $300 million in both FY2019 and FY2020. The five-year total of public transportation funding authorized is $61.1 billion, an average of $12.2 billion per year ( Table 3 ). Program Changes

The biggest programmatic change related to public transportation is the creation of a competitive discretionary component within the Bus and Bus Facilities Grant Program. The FAST Act also changes NHTSA's safety grant programs. Other provisions include
an increase in the cap on claims against Amtrak arising from the May 12, 2015, derailment in Philadelphia, PA, to $295 million, and a provision that the general $200 million cap on claims will be adjusted based on changes in the Consumer Price Index (which will increase the statutory cap to approximately $295 million) and readjusted every five years; a requirement that Amtrak implement a plan to eliminate its operating loss on food and beverage service by December 2020; a requirement that Amtrak develop a pilot program allowing passengers to carry domesticated dogs and cats; a requirement that DOT convene a working group to evaluate restoration of intercity rail passenger service between New Orleans, LA, and Orlando, FL, which was disrupted by infrastructure damage caused by hurricanes in 2007; a requirement that DOT implement a pilot program allowing bidding for the right to operate up to three long-distance passenger routes; a requirement that DOT promulgate a rule requiring intercity passenger and commuter rail carriers to install inward- and outward-facing audio and image recorders to monitor train operators; a requirement that DOT, Amtrak, states and other stakeholders submit a study evaluating the shared use of right-of-way by passenger and freight rail systems; and statutory language requiring that the recipient of a high-speed rail grant for more than $1 billion must demonstrate that it has funding committed to fulfill the nonfederal share required for the grant, that it has identified nonfederal funding required for any subsequent phases of the project, and that the grant will result in a useable segment that has operational independence.
On December 4, 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act; P.L. 114-94). The act authorized spending on federal highway and public transportation programs, surface transportation safety and research activities, and rail programs for five years, through September 30, 2020. The act's authorization totaled roughly $305 billion for FY2016 through FY2020. This included $233 billion for highways and highway safety, $61 billion for public transportation, and more than $10 billion for Amtrak.
Most of the funding for surface transportation bills has been drawn from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) since its creation in 1956, but the principal revenue source for the HTF, federal motor fuel taxes, has not generated sufficient revenue to cover HTF outlays since 2008. To fill this shortfall, Congress has relied on Treasury general fund transfers to make up the difference. Although Congress was unable to agree on a long-term solution to the HTF revenue issue, the FAST Act identified roughly $70 billion in budgetary offsets to support general fund transfers sufficient to pay for the five-year bill.
The FAST Act builds upon the many programmatic changes made in the previous multiyear reauthorization bill, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21; P.L. 112-141). The act also continues initiatives intended to increase program efficiency through performance-based planning and the streamlining of project development. Among FAST Act's major attributes are
$225 billion authorized from the HTF over five years, an average of $45 billion annually, for Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) programs; $61 billion authorized from the HTF and the general fund, an average of $12.2 billion per year, for Federal Transit Administration (FTA) programs; a major redirection of funding toward highway freight projects via a new formula program and a competitive grant program; direct funding for the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program of $275 million, down from $1 billion in FY2015; competitive grant component added to the Bus and Bus Facilities Program; provisions on intercity passenger rail transportation included in a surface transportation act for the first time; and no project earmarks.
The FAST Act does not increase motor fuels taxes or provide another sustainable source of revenues to be paid into the HTF. Unless new revenue sources are found, Congress will face projections of a large gap between HTF tax receipts and spending plans when it begins debating the reauthorization of the FAST Act in 2020.