The U.S. Department of Transportation announced a step forward in advancing transportation infrastructure projects across the U.S. by expanding the Regional Infrastructure Accelerators (RIA) program to 24 accelerators receiving $24 million in new funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Administered by the Build America Bureau, the RIA program accelerates project delivery and clears barriers for credit-worthy projects by funding and encouraging best practices in project planning, studies and analysis, preliminary engineering, and design.

“We are pleased to expand the Regional Infrastructure Accelerator program to 24 regions, helping communities build capacity and get much-needed transportation projects underway,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “DOT partners with these regions to help them secure financing and develop in-house expertise for innovative delivery of regionally significant projects.” 

FY2023 Regional Infrastructure Accelerator Awardees

The selected Fiscal Year 2023 Regional Infrastructure Accelerator awardees:

• California DOT (Sacramento, California) - $2M

• Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (Atlanta, Georgia) - $1.75M

• Pacific Northwest Economic Region* (Seattle, Washington) - $2M

• State of Louisiana Executive Office (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) - $2M

• Montgomery County Department of Transportation (Rockville, Maryland) - $2M

• Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (Las Vegas, Nevada) - $2M

• Centralina Council of Governments (Charlotte, North Carolina) - $1.75M

• City of Tampa (Tampa, Florida) - $1.75M

• San Diego Association of Governments* (San Diego, California) - $1.75M

• Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Seattle, Washington) - $1.75M

• Fresno Council of Governments* (Fresno, California) - $1.75M

• Bay Area Rapid Transit District (San Francisco, California) - $1.75M

• City of Fort Lauderdale (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - $974K

• County of Bernalillo (Bernalillo, New Mexico) - $974K

More About USDOT's RIA Program

These awards result from the spring solicitation for projects for the RIA program.

The Bureau received 21 applications requesting $66 million in funding. The program, created by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, is designed to inform future work by measuring how different regional models can expedite the development and delivery of transportation projects.

The RIA program is part of the federal Thriving Communities Network, an interagency effort to coordinate technical assistance, planning, and implementation support to ensure infrastructure investments funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act create long-term benefits nationwide.