Wisconsin will receive more than $115 million in federal funding for transit projects this fiscal year, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters via Zoom, Buttigieg, alongside White House senior advisor Mitch Landrieu, announced that the Federal Transit Authority will invest $20 billion in transit projects across the country this fiscal year — a 58% increase in funding compared to last year.
The funding comes from a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed into law in November.
“These dollars will build, maintain and expand transit opportunities across the nation,” Buttigieg said on the press call.
The $115 million earmarked for Wisconsin will be split between the state government and local municipalities, according to FTA data. The exact breakdown of how funds will be spent has not yet been determined.
Several urban areas in the state will receive a portion of the federal funds to support their local transit agencies:
Milwaukee will receive $32 million;
$12.5 million is on its way to Madison;
Kenosha will receive $123,725;
Green Bay will bring in $3.4 million;
and Appleton will receive just shy of $4 million.
Addressing the nation’s infrastructure shortcomings has been a top priority for Biden since taking office 15 months ago. The president spent much of his first year in the White House negotiating with lawmakers in Washington over the infrastructure package he approved last fall and another, larger, bill that failed to gain support from some senators in his own party.
Improving Wisconsin’s basic infrastructure has also been a top priority for Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat who is making “fixing the damn roads” a pillar of his reelection campaign.
In Madison, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said pre-pandemic challenges, such as those in transportation, have not gone away and federal funding is key to recovery.
It was announced in March that the city will receive $6.4 million from Biden’s infrastructure bill to rebuild and restore the city’s metro maintenance facility.
In a statement, Rhodes-Conway did not directly respond to questions Wednesday about how the additional $12.5 million will be used.
However, she said she is "grateful for the ongoing support for transit and transportation in Madison from Secretary Buttigeig and President Biden. We've built a strong partnership that is helping to move Madison forward."
Cap Times reporter Allison Garfield contributed to this reporting. This story has been corrected to note that the funding was announced Wednesday, not Tuesday.
