U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced the availability of up to $17 billion in loans for critical infrastructure projects across the country as a result of the recently enacted surface transportation bill, MAP-21. MAP-21 capitalized TIFIA with an additional $1.7 billion over 2 years, up from $120 million in 2012, making it the largest transportation infrastructure finance fund in the department’s history. Each dollar of federal funds can provide approximately $10 in TIFIA credit assistance, which in turn can leverage $20-$30 billion in transportation infrastructure investment. Altogether the expanded federal loan program could result in up to $50 billion in federal, state, local and private sector investment for transportation projects. To date, TIFIA — the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act — has used $9.2 billion to leverage more than $36.4 billion in private and other funding to build 27 major transportation projects around the U.S.

Read the USDOT press release.