As the federal government works to reauthorize the nation’s surface transportation programs, the National League of Cities (NLC) and AWC urge cities to engage in the process to make sure lawmakers prioritize the needs of local governments and communities.

We encourage cities and towns to act by Monday, September 8 to share their transportation priorities with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) before its open Request for Information on Transportation Reauthorization closes. NLC has provided a template response that cities can edit and submit.

USDOT will use responses to help Congress prepare a bill to reauthorize federal surface transportation programs after the current legislation—which was part of the broad 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or BIL)—expires with the rest of the BIL on September 30, 2026.

NLC and AWC also urge cities to work with your Members of Congress and staff to help them shape that surface transportation reauthorization bill as it works its way through committee.

Surface transportation reauthorization bills, which generally come every five years, cover the vast majority of federal programs and activities affecting roads, bridges, rail, transit, bicycle lanes, sidewalks, pipelines, ferries, airports, and more.

While legislators will be working on the bill through next summer, now is the time to engage. Contact your senators and representatives this month during Congress’ August Recess to schedule in-person meetings or coffees to share your priorities and reach out to legislative staff in D.C. to schedule virtual meetings.

Here are five basic policy requests to make to legislators:

• Increase the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) program because it’s the most flexible transportation program with a regional share and lots of eligible projects.
• Deliver more formula funds directly to our regional transportation organizations to help cities like mine and our region. Local leaders sit on the boards of these regional organizations, and we can work together to distribute and build what’s needed most with more direct and reliable funding.
• Keep local access to programs for safe streets, rail crossings, local bridges, and innovation. Local governments own 75% of roads and almost 50% of bridges, but only recently did Congress give us access to funding opportunities for these four key areas and we need all of them. Rail safety is particularly important since more than 12,000 communities have rail tracks coming through town. Many need to upgrade crossings for safety, but only Congress has authority on rail safety decisions and to make these projects affordable for small communities.
• Streamline the environmental process for smaller projects and rebuilding. We need an expedited, flexible environmental review and permitting process, particularly for smaller-scale transportation projects and projects that are rebuilding in the existing right-of-way.
• Lower the cost of transportation safety and innovation by setting up experimentation and innovation funds for basics like signals, but also to plan for emerging advanced transportation options so American cities can continue to build for the future.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is currently working on a replacement bill for the current multi-year reauthorization following hearings on different aspects of the nation’s highway, transit, and rail transportation earlier this year. Two members of Washington’s congressional delegation are on the committee—Representatives Rick Larsen and Marilyn Strickland—with Larsen serving as ranking member.

In the Senate, a reauthorization bill is expected in the Environment and Public Works Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, which has no Washington members.

USDOT direct grant recipients

According to NLC, USDOT is making progress on a backlog of grants awarded and all local government grant recipients should now have a USDOT contact established.

Awardees without a contact can reach out directly to USDOT’s intergovernmental office at intergov@dot.gov to request an update. If a grant agreement has not been reached, NLC recommends following up no less than every two weeks to demonstrate a city’s commitment to moving forward.