Relief may be on the near horizon.
Congress is considering the Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-term Development for America’s 250th Act, the BUILD America 250 Act for short. The bill would fund highways, bridges, transit, rail, and freight programs after the current funding authorization expires on Sept. 30, giving Congress a firm deadline for passing a new bill or extending the existing law. The bipartisan proposal would direct money through the Highway Trust Fund and add a new federal fee on electric vehicles, which currently don’t contribute through gasoline or diesel taxes. A closely watched issue for FEDA and its members, the act gives lawmakers a chance to address a funding system that has relied on the same federal fuel-tax rates since 1993.
A New Approach to
Funding Transportation For the last 33 years, the federal gasoline and diesel tax rates have remained unchanged. Drivers pay those taxes when they buy fuel, and the money goes into the Highway Trust Fund to help finance federal highway, bridge, and transit programs. Gas-powered vehicles contribute 18.4 cents per gallon, while diesel-powered vehicles contribute 24.4 cents. Electric vehicles (EVs) use the same roads but don’t buy either fuel, so their owners haven’t contributed to the fund through a federal fuel tax.
The five-year transportation funding bill includes $376 billion for Federal Highway Administration programs, $87.6 billion for transit, $5.7 billion for highway safety, and $5 billion for motor carrier safety. It also authorizes additional funding for rail programs, bridge projects, and major freight and multimodal projects, although that money would depend on future congressional appropriations.
“The bill also makes smart and targeted reforms to our surface transportation programs, focuses on strengthening our core infrastructure system, drives innovation, bolsters safety, ensures states have the flexibility they need, and cuts red tape to get projects built faster.”
— Sam Graves House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman U.S. House of Representatives
Beyond those core investments, the bill also:
• Establishes a Surface Transportation Accelerator Grant program for projects in rural, urban, local, and regional communities.
• Outlines the first federal rules for autonomous commercial motor vehicles.
• Exempts automated driving technology and equipment from certain vehicle-width limits.
• Creates a consolidated state block grant program for public transportation services in rural and urban areas.
• Allows state rail safety inspectors to inspect railroad bridges.
• Introduces a reporting system for state, local, and tribal governments to flag railroad bridge safety concerns. • Extends funding for the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan program.
• Authorizes additional investments in Amtrak and other passenger rail programs.
Supporters see that investment as essential to the nation’s growing economy. “You can’t have a big-
league economy with little-league infrastructure,” said Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “The BUILD America 250 Act makes key investments in the nation’s transportation, from restoring aging bridges and repairing crumbling roads to building out safe, accessible transit and bike infrastructure.”
Bringing EVs into the
Highway Trust Fund One of the bill’s biggest changes would be a new annual federal registration fee of $130 for electric vehicles and $35 for plug-in hybrids. This fee would plug a gap in transportation funding that has widened as EVs have become a bigger part of the car market. Battery-powered vehicles represented 7.4% of all new car sales in 2025, according to data from Edmunds. That number is likely to grow in the coming years, as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory predicts there could be 30 million to 42 million EVs on U.S. roads by 2030. Creating a new fee for EVs would give the Highway Trust Fund its first new source of revenue in more than three
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