Maximize Your Impact: How to Drive Innovation with Infrastructure Funding
November 18, 2024

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which became law on November 15, 2021, made significant investments in the nation’s infrastructure and communities, including for roads, public transit, rail, water, energy, climate resilience, and broadband access. 

To date the law has provided over $568 billion for 66,000 projects in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In the 3 years since BIL’s passage, the Local Infrastructure Hub (LIH) has created a number of resources to ensure that cities and towns are able to access BIL funds and drive local progress, improve communities, and deliver results for residents.

Below are some ways that BIL is funding infrastructure improvements across the country and related LIH resources for cities interested in applying for funding.

Fast Facts¹ and Helpful Resources on BIL Funding

The resources linked below provide extensive information about each grant program, including webinar recordings, applications of cities like yours that were successful in obtaining funding, strategies for putting together a competitive application, and technical assistance resources to walk you through the details of applying.

Roads

Over 196,000 miles of roadway are being repaired or improved from coast to coast, which is enough to cross the U.S. 60 times. 

Resources: RAISE (which is open for submissions now) and SMART grant landing pages. RAISE is for surface transportation projects (road, rail, transit, and port) and SMART is focused on using technology to improve transportation efficiency and safety.

Winning applications: Winning SMART and RAISE applications.

Bridges

BIL has funded over 11,400 projects to build, repair, or modernize America’s bridges.

Resources: Bridge Investment Program landing Page.

Case story: Connecticut’s Gold Star Memorial Bridge

Ports

Over 580 port and waterway projects will strengthen supply chain reliability, speed up the movement of goods, reduce the costs of everyday items, and lower carbon emissions. 

Resources: Clean Ports Program landing page.

Notable project: Port of Long Beach

Public Transit

BIL has funded nearly $90 billion in transit projects, including subways, light rail, buses, ferries, and other forms of public transit. 

Resources: RAISE landing page and Low/No Emissions Bus and Facilities Grant Program 

Case story: Lincoln, NE multimodal transit transfer center project

Transportation Safety

1,400+ communities in all 50 states have been funded to improve roadway safety for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. 

Resources: Safe Streets and Roads for All landing page.

Winning applications: Safe Streets and Roads for All Winning Applications and a case study of a winning project employing technology to increase safety in Chattanooga, TN

Broadband

The BIL Broadband Infrastructure Program has made high-speed internet service available to more than 40,000 previously unserved households, nearly 3,000 businesses, and more than 130 community anchor institutions.

Resources: Broadband funding opportunities for state and local governments

Case stories: Municipal fiber deployment in Waterloo, IA, and market-driven fiber deployment in Mesa, AZ

Other Resources

Getting Started: Transportation Electrification

The transportation sector is a leading source for greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. To address this, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) authorized over $10B in funding to reduce those emissions, including $7.5B in the BIL...

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Infrastructure Grants You Might Not Have Heard Of

This resource describes some grant programs of which applicants might not be aware, either because they are smaller programs than those typically featured in the Local Infrastructure Hub or because they only apply to specific communities.

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