On November 15, 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was passed. The Bill reauthorizes surface transportation programs for five years, through Fiscal Year 2026, and provides for a one-time transfer of funds from the General Fund into the Highway Trust Fund. It also authorizes programs for water, energy, and broadband infrastructure, and provides emergency supplemental appropriations.
Citylitics is uniquely equipped to find the earliest trends from entities discussing the Bill, aggregated from council meeting minutes & agendas, capital plans, infrastructure plans, and permits from over 20,000 municipalities and 3,000 counties. This includes references to the Bill, or ‘mentions’ in public documents and surrounding context within the first two weeks the Bill was signed.
Over the coming weeks and months, Citylitics will continue to track and report on trends relating to the Bill as planning discussions evolve across states and municipalities. Follow us on LinkedIn to make sure you don’t miss an update.
How are Funds being Distributed and Allocated?
Funds are predominantly being channeled through existing funding and grant programs. This contrasts with the approach used to support the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which saw the creation of new funding avenues.
Discussions Underway
Discussions around the Infrastructure Bill have begun taking place on a local level. Analysis by Citylitics shows that, within the first two weeks, conversations in which the Bill has been referenced, or ‘mentioned’, were already being had by towns, cities, and counties. Transportation and Transit Authorities and Commissions, such as the California High-Speed Rail Authority and Indiana Department of Transportation, are also actively discussing the Bill.
Regarding towns, New Jersey and Pennsylvania together are the largest count (23%), mirroring where funding has been allocated toward existing grants, especially in relation to the U.S. rail network. The Bill allocates $6 Billion for Northeast Corridor grants in support of procurement & deferred maintenance backlog with NJ Transit and the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) the biggest transit agencies to gain. NJ Transit and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission are likewise currently discussing the Bill. In terms of size, these towns and villages range from a population of 172 to 29,175.
Conclusion
Even before the Infrastructure Bill was passed, there was an overwhelming desire to know when and where funds will be allocated, how they will be allocated, and the types of infrastructure projects they can expect to see emerge over the next 5 years. Citylitics’ analysis shows that local governments are equally excited and already having key conversations on ways to move forward backlogged projects and meet more aspirational citizen needs and wants. Except for New Jersey and Pennsylvania, local governments appear focused on the ‘what ifs,’ making it a wise time for solution providers to begin reaching out and educating prospects on what that landscape of possibilities might look like.
About Citylitics’ Data Engine
Citylitics aggregates over 1.6B public documents & records from 30,000 cities & utilities across the U.S. and Canada, making us the largest data engine in the industry and only source of predictive intelligence on where, how, and why upcoming investments will be made. Our data sources include capital plans, council meeting minutes & agendas, infrastructure plans, permits, financial data, and more.
Our intelligence aggregation system is unique in the industry as it allows us to collect content from websites and documents, index it, categorize it, and then make it available to our search algorithms and in-house Intelligence Analysts. We combine a balance of algorithm and data searching tools to comb through a vast dataset with applied expertise to filter out irrelevancy, resulting in best-fit opportunities.