USDOT Unfreezes 529 Previously-Approved Grants

by Sean Jeans-Gail | VP of Gov't Affairs + Policy

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The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced this week it has cleared another 529 infrastructure grants approved under the Biden Administration. The Trump Administration froze around 3,200 infrastructure projects for a “departmental review” upon taking office in January 2025. The USDOT has now cleared a total of 1,065 projects, worth around $10 billion.

Almost 300 of the 529 grants released are for road and highway projects—with 255 projects from the Safe Streets and Roads for All program. However, there were a few high-impact investments in regional rail equipment and Amtrak grants that were unfrozen in this round of clearances, including:

• $49.6 million grant to Amtrak for the Chicago Union Station Mail Platform Reactivation Project;
• $10.7 million grant to Amtrak for East River Tunnel Rehabilitation Enabling Components;
• $23.2 million grant to the Connecticut Department of Transportation for the Saugatuck River Bridge Replacement;
• $200 million grant to the Chicago Transit Authority for Rail Vehicle Replacement;
• $100 million grant to the Commuter Rail Division of the Regional Transportation Authority for Metra's Modern Railcars Project; and
• $76 million grant to the Tri-County Commuter Rail Authority for Rail Vehicle Replacement.

Overall, the USDOT released 32 rail grants and 154 transit grants from the following programs:

• Federal Railroad Administration
  • Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI)- 8 projects ($69 million)
  • Federal-State Partnership- 3 projects ($83 million)
  • Railroad Crossing Elimination- 22 projects ($28 million)
  • Safety Infrastructure Improvement Program- 1 project ($2 million)

• Federal Transit Administration
  • All Stations Accessibility Program- 10 projects ($365 million)
  • Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive- 41 projects ($175 million)
  • Ferry Service for Rural Communities- 4 projects ($195 million)
  • Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility (ICAM)- 14 projects ($5 million)
  • Low or No Emission (Bus) Grants- 26 projects ($187 million)
  • Passenger Ferry- 13 projects ($69 million)
  • Rail Vehicle Replacement- 3 projects ($372 million)
  • Tribal Transit Competitive Program- 43 projects ($16 million)

The USDOT has yet to issue a timeline for the clearance of the remaining 2,100 grants. However, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy acknowledged that the review process isn’t going fast enough in response to a question posed by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) during a May 2025 budget hearing:

“It’s a new administration, you are within your rights to modify grant criteria certainly before the money is obligated, I understand all that,” said Senator Schatz. “The problem is we are about four months into this and there are a bunch of things that are plainly not ‘climate’, like evacuation routes, hillside stabilization. And so my basic question is: I know you care about metrics, I know your team is trying to metabolize all of this. What’s the throughput capacity of the Department to get these 3,200 grants reviewed and obligated and out? Is it 300 a week? Do you think you’re going to be done by June? What’s the timeframe? Because it’s a little bit of a black box. This hearing is useful because it gives us some reassurance that they’re not actually stopped. But I think it’s fair for our state departments of transportation to know it’s going to be June before it’s done? It’s going to be next week? It could be later this year? Can you give us a sense of timing?”

The Secretary pushed back against the idea that the grants were “frozen,” characterizing it as a departmental review of all unobligated grants. However, he acknowledged that the current pace of review was insufficient.

“I appreciate the question, I think that’s a really good question,” responded Sec. Duffy. “I’ve told you we’ve done over 400. At this pace—which I’m proud of the pace that we have [achieved] thus far—it is not fast enough…. It would take us multiple years at this pace to get it done. So that is unacceptable, and I have countless meetings every week about how we can speed up the process to get more money out the door, more grant agreement done. So, I take your point. I am proud of the work we’ve done so far, but the mission is to pick it up dramatically.”

Rail Passengers Association is urging the USDOT and Congress to speed the review process and get Americans working on building a better rail system. Rail Passengers’ President and CEO Jim Mathews’ wrote the following to President Trump all the way back in January of this year:

“These rail projects have been thoroughly vetted by career Department of Transportation staff and enjoy broad support from Members of Congress from both parties.

“In tracking the implementation of the IIJA, Rail Passengers has identified more than $28.6 billion in discretionary intercity passenger rail grants issued by the USDOT across 158 passenger rail projects. These grants are located in almost every state in the nation, from Florida to Alaska. They will benefit millions of Americans, in big cities and small towns, urban neighborhoods and rural communities, Red States and Blue.

“The vast majority of the rail projects in question required state and local governments to provide local funding matches to secure these grants. Delaying disbursements will not only endanger tens of thousands of construction jobs, it will introduce costly delays, which will likely be borne by local governments.”