MEMO: Addressing Household Affordability Through Safer, More Connected Communities and Transportation Choices

America’s cities need transportation policies that help families, improve safety, and give local leaders the tools to meet the needs of their communities. Federal transportation policy should reflect the realities cities face every day: rising costs, persistent safety challenges, increasing extreme weather events, and growing demand for practical, reliable transportation options. This document outlines Climate Mayors priorities for the reauthorization of the surface transportation bill. To ensure proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars for investing in lasting transportation infrastructure that is less vulnerable to disasters, we urge Congress to fund the priorities outlined below in the reauthorization.

Direct More Funding to Local Governments to Select Projects for their Communities

Local governments maintain more than 75% of the nation’s roads, yet they only receive and manage about 15% of federal transportation funding. Cities need greater access to federal funding without State interference that can slow the obligation of federal funds, so they can fix the roads, improve the freight corridors, and develop the community infrastructure that matters most to residents. Federal policy should empower local leaders to respond to local needs with flexibility, speed, and accountability. To better align federal investments with locally determined projects, Congress must:

• Increase suballocation of the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBGP) from 55 percent to 65 percent;

• Maintain suballocation for Carbon Reduction Program at 65 percent;

• Include suballocation for PROTECT formula program for infrastructure resilience;

• Include suballocation for the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP);

• Require suballocated funding to be obligated only for projects selected by local and regional decision-making structures, free of State interference;

• Increase funding and the federal share for the Metropolitan Planning Program and enhance inclusions of housing considerations as part of planning processes;

• Preserve critical discretionary grant opportunities for localities; 

• Establish a pathway for MPOs to become direct recipients of planning and capital funds;

• Preserve dedicated discretionary grant funding for EV charging infrastructure through which local governments are eligible, prioritizing ride-hailing, multi-unit dwelling, and community charging.
  

Ensure that Grant Awards and Programs are Fully Implemented and Protected from Arbitrary Cancellations or Impoundment

Congress must take firm legislative action to ensure that all funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and future surface transportation bills are fully implemented as agreed to by Congress and that awarded discretionary grants are allowed to proceed without delay, arbitrary cancellation, or impoundment. Cities and local governments rely on the certainty of federal commitments to plan, finance, and execute critical infrastructure projects that improve public safety, strengthen resilience, modernize transportation systems, and support economic growth. Disruptions to awarded grants undermine local planning efforts, increase project costs, create uncertainty for private-sector partners, and delay urgently needed investments in communities. Protecting the integrity of funding commitments is essential to maintaining trust between federal and local governments and ensuring that infrastructure projects deliver their intended benefits to residents across the country.  Congress should not finalize any reauthorization agreement until the last agreement is upheld.

Invest in Infrastructure to Increase Resilience to Extreme Weather

For mayors, investing in infrastructure resilience is essential to protecting the people, businesses, and critical services that communities depend on every day. As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, aging infrastructure faces growing risks from flooding, heat, storms, and other hazards that threaten public safety and disrupt local economies. Proactive resilience investments help cities modernize transportation networks, strengthen water and energy systems, reduce disaster recovery costs, and ensure continuity of essential services during emergencies. These long-term investments often struggle in the day-to-day haggling over shorter term, more immediately tangible projects when forced to compete.  Sadly, the urgency for preparedness is rarely appreciated until it is too late.  That is why dedicated funding for resilience is essential.  It provides local governments with the certainty needed to plan and implement long-term resilience projects, protecting taxpayers from escalating future costs while creating jobs, supporting economic growth, and building stronger, more sustainable communities.  Congress must:

• Preserve and invest in the PROTECT formula program, and include 50% suballocation of funding to local governments.

• Preserve the PROTECT discretionary grant program

• Incorporate resilience projects as eligible under key formula and discretionary grant programs including BUILD, INFRA, and any new discretionary grant programs.

Invest in Safe and Affordable Transportation Options for All Users

Transportation accounts for the second highest cost burden for families, with mounting inflation and gas pricing continuing to squeeze families' budgets even further. This surface transportation bill must recognize that a system that forces Americans to drive gas cars is a system that does not provide them with options to save money, especially at times when gas prices rise. Federal transportation investments should make it easier for consumers to have greater mobility choice, including to drive hybrid and electric vehicles that reduce their total cost of ownership. This also means prioritizing street design, lower-risk infrastructure, and practical improvements that help protect people whether they are driving, walking, biking, or taking transit. Together, these policies not only improve climate outcomes, but will unlock more affordable transportation options that help families save money and access work, schools, and services. We ask for Congress to:

• Retain the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program;

• Create a suballocation under the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) to direct safety funding to serious injuries and fatalities on non-State owned roads;

• Increase funding for the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) set-aside;

• Maintain robust investment levels in federal transit programs, continue to increase the percent share to fund transit programs, and ensure that any new revenue into the HTF includes deposits into the Mass Transit Account, with an 80-20 highway-public transit split;

• Restore employers’ ability to deduct the cost of providing the Commuter Tax Benefits;

• Preserve dedicated funding for multi-modal mobility projects from programs like the Carbon Reduction Program (CRP), Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ), and Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP);

• Preserve dedicated federal investments through formula and discretionary grant programs for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure similar to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) programs;

• Enable high-mileage commercial fleets, multi-unit dwellings, and workplaces to adopt alternative fueled vehicles and infrastructure by extending the 30C Tax Credit, set to expire in June 2026;

• Do not punish certain drivers with a punitive EV and hybrid fee. Address the shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund holistically and fairly; and

• Provide an optional mileage-based alternative to any annual registration fees to account for drivers’ actual system usage.

Keep Prices Down Through Reliable Movement of Goods and Services

Cities are critical multimodal freight logistics hubs of our transportation system and serve as powerful epicenters for first and last mile freight delivery to complete transportation trips. Federal policy should support freight logistics needed for reliable goods movement, and efficient delivery networks in communities across the country. Investing in medium- and heavy-duty electrification can help build a freight system that is more reliable, less exposed to fuel volatility, and more resilient. With medium- and heavy-duty trucks representing 5% of vehicles yet responsible for 20% of transportation emissions, this support comes with the added benefit of cleaner air and water for cities in busy and high-trafficked corridors. We ask that Congress:

• Establish a robust medium- and heady-duty alternative fuel vehicle discretionary and formula program that supports vehicle and fueling and charging infrastructure deployments at strategic shared depot sites and along key freight corridors;

• Increase flexibility for cities to support depot charging by allowing such charging to qualify for federal funding if depots serve more than one commercial motor vehicle or are publicly accessible;

• Support innovation in last-mile delivery through grant funding for pilot projects and programs; and

• Update FHWA Minimum Standards for EV Charging with medium- and heavy-duty specific standards.