2011 DOT budget highlights funding expenditures

Proposed Department of Transportation expenditures for fiscal year 2011 include a $30 million allocation for a federal transit safety program, federal officials announced Feb. 1.

DOT released a government report (.pdf file) from the Office of Management and Budget showing how agency funding for FY 2011, which begins July 1, 2010, will be spent to generate economic growth and reduce the rate of highway fatalities to 1.13-1.16 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled by the end of 2011 through initiatives aimed at drivers, improved road design and use of technology to improve safety. The new federal transit safety program would replace the "patchwork" of state safety organizations with national standards and federal enforcement, officials said.

The transportation budget also includes:

• Approximately $1.14 billion for the Next Generation Air Transportation System, which represents a 30 percent increase from the previous year
• Approximately $4 billion for a new National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund, aimed at "investing in high-value projects of regional or national significance"
• $530 million to help state and local governments invest in sustainable transportation infrastructure