Congressional Budget Office Publishes Updated Federal, State, and Local Infrastructure Spending Data

From ACEC National:

Click here for the CBO charts.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has published an updated report of total public spending on transportation and water infrastructure dating back to 1956.

The CBO charts break down spending by type (highways, transit and rail, aviation, water transportation, water resources, and water utilities), by level of government, and by category (capital vs. operations and maintenance) from 1956-2017, adjusted for inflation.

The data show that nearly 80 percent of funding comes from state and local governments, with expenditures growing for operations and maintenance needs versus capital investments.

In 2017, spending totaled $440.5 billion, including $177 billion for highways, $113 billion on water utilities, and $70 billion to mass transit. Federal spending accounted for $98 billion, including $72 billion for capital and $27 billion for operations and maintenance. State and local funding totaled $342 billion in 2017, with $240 billion (70 percent) allocated to operations and maintenance.

Measured as a share of the entire economy, total spending on these programs from all levels of government peaked in 1959 at 3.03 percent of GDP. In 2017, the programs accounted for only 2.28 percent of GDP, the lowest of any year covered in the report.