Federal funding for transportation

In 2025, federal funding allocated for transportation is estimated to reach $108.8 billion, reflecting a 0.3% decrease from the previous year. The Trump administration has rolled back Biden-era transportation funding through executive orders and legislation, namely the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Many of these rollbacks target programs set to reduce carbon emissions or improve equity included in the Inflation Reduction Act. In 2025, federal funding for transportation continues to largely be directed towards ground transportation, including the construction and maintenance of streets, highways, bridges and railways, with airports and air traffic receiving the second-largest share of expenditures. Water transportation and miscellaneous other costs account for the remaining portion. The composition of spending has remained largely stable, with funding slightly fluctuating among categories year to year.

From 2020 to 2025, the value of federal transportation funding demonstrated volatility, influenced primarily by legislative responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic conditions. Early in the period, funding was buoyed by legislative measures such as the 2020 CARES Act, which provided significant one-time appropriations for transportation agencies. By 2022, the tapering of pandemic-related support resulted in a decline in funding. Real funding fell in 2022 and 2023 as the market adjusted to post-pandemic operating conditions, which accelerated inflation. New federal infrastructure initiatives, particularly the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, contributed to growth in 2024. In 2025, the Trump administration rolled back some of this funding through executive orders, which were subject to legal challenge.

Macroeconomic factors, including economic downturns, legislative cycles and political partisanship, all exerted significant influence over the past five-years. Periods of rising unemployment have historically spurred increased federal transportation spending as a fiscal stimulus tool, while legislative consensus determined the magnitude and allocation of funds. Political volatility translates into volatility for federal transportation funding.