AASHTO Journal - USDOT Issues More Than $2.2B in RAISE Grants

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded more than $2.2 billion from its Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity or RAISE discretionary grant program to 162 different infrastructure projects across the country.

[Above photo by the USDOT]

According to USDOT, the RAISE program utilizes criteria including safety, environmental sustainability, quality of life and economic competitiveness, state of good repair, innovation, plus an array of “partnership” factors. Within those criteria, USDOT prioritizes projects that can demonstrate improvements to racial equity, reduce impacts of climate change, and create good-paying jobs.

USDOT noted in a statement that 50 percent of its RAISE grant funding is designated for projects in rural areas, with 50 percent designated for projects in urban areas. Additionally, nearly two-thirds of projects funded by this round of RAISE grants are located in areas of persistent poverty or historically disadvantaged communities.

[Editor’s note: The full list of projects that received FY 2023 RAISE grants can be viewed here.]

USDOT added that RAISE discretionary grants help project sponsors at both the state and local levels, including municipalities, tribal governments, counties, and others to complete critical freight and passenger transportation infrastructure projects. The eligibility requirements of RAISE also allow project sponsors to obtain funding for projects that are harder to support through other USDOT grant programs, the agency added.

In August 2022, the agency also issued some $2.2 billion in RAISE grants to help urban and rural communities move forward on projects that modernize roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, intermodal, bicycle, and pedestrian systems.