At the deadline of March 23, 2018, the President signed a bipartisan omnibus spending plan for fiscal year 2018, keeping the government funded until September 2018.

Full funding of fiscal year 2018 transportation programs and priorities will help TAMC to plan for federally funded projects and consider grant applications for priority projects.

On March 23, 2018, the President signed a $1.3 trillion omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018 that included increased funding for transportation. The bill includes $47.5 billion for the Federal Highways Administration, $13.5 billion for the Federal Transit Administration and $3.1 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration.

Specific transportation grant programs of interest to TAMC include:

1. The Capital Investment Grants program received $2.65 billion and the bill included language to ensure the future of the program. The program allocated:
   • $1.51 billion for New Starts
   •  $715.7 million for Core Capacity
   • $401 million for Small Starts
2. Amtrak received $1.94 billion in funding, with $650 million for Northeast Corridor grants and $1.29 billion for National Network grants.
3. Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement Grants (CRISI) received $592.5 million, including  $250 million for Positive Train Control (PTC) projects.
4. Rail Restoration and Enhancement program received $20 million.
5. Rail Federal-State partnership for State of Good Repair received $250 million.
6. TIGER grants are set at $1.5 billion, and bill language explicitly mentions public transportation as one of the intended recipients. The grants were $500 million last year and went primarily to road projects (only about 3.6% of the 2017 TIGER funds were for public transit projects, compared to 20% in previous cycles).