Economic stimulus--Enhancements gets 3%; metro areas 30% of highway funding

The conference report of the economic recovery bill has been released--two very large PDF files: Part 1, Part 2.

This is the result of the Conference Committee's work to reconcile the two different economic stimulus bills passed by the House and Senate, and will likely be the final version of the bill that will pass into law.

A quick look at the transportation section (Title XII, starting on page 226 of Part 1) seems to indicate:

• Transportation enhancements will receive 3% of the total amount apportioned for Highways ($27.5 billion) [Part 1, p. 233, bottom]
• Metro areas will receive 30% of that same amount [Part 1, p. 233-234]
• State DOTs will receive the remainder
• The Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality program doesn't seem to receive any special allotment

As far as Enhancements and the allotments for metro areas go, this appears to be a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The House version allotted 45% of the total to metro areas and Enhancements received 10% of that total (4.5%).

In the senate version, there was no setaside at all for metro areas or Enhancements. However (according to some reports) 5% of the highway funds were allotted for Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality.

The final version is a bit closer to the House version: metro areas received 30% and Enhancements 3%.

Looking at the other transportation-related numbers, the amounts for high-speed rail have gone up some--compared with the initial bills passed in both House and Senate:

• $27.5 billion for highways (as reported above; see Part 1, p. 231)
• $1.5 billion for surface transportation (discretionary grants; may be for highways or transit; see Part 1, p. 226)
• $8.4 billion for transit
• $8 billion for high-speed rail
• $1.3 billion for Amtrak
• Commuter transit employee fringe benefit increased from $110/month to $200/month putting the transit benefit on par with that currently allowed for parking (Part 2, page 69; this amends 26 USC Section 132(f))

Please note that this is a preliminary analysis of a very complex document and the legislation may or may not change in significant ways before it is finally adopted. However, that's the way it is looking for now.