The Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant Program, previously known as the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program and Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, provides critical funding for public transportation infrastructure investments. Since 2009, the RAISE Grant Program has provided $14.4 billion for critical surface transportation projects, including public transit and passenger rail investments. It has funded new public transit stations, streetcar lines, bus rapid transit projects, vehicle purchases, station renovations, transit signal priority systems, grade separations, and automated vehicle pilot projects. These projects not only help enhance mobility but also result in positive safety, environmental, equity, and economic benefits.
- The percentage of RAISE grant funds awarded for public transit and passenger rail projects in FY 2020 through FY 2023 remains significantly less than the historical average (33 percent).
- In FY 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded $404 million for public transportation projects, equal to 18 percent of available RAISE grant funding. The percentage of FY 2023 public transportation investment is, by percentage, a slight decrease from FY 2022 and FY 2021.
- Although DOT has partially reoriented the RAISE Grant Program to multimodal priorities in the last three years, APTA strongly urges the Secretary of Transportation to direct a significantly greater percentage of RAISE grant funds to vital public transit and passenger rail projects.
