WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) introduced the Transit for Urban Renewal and Business Opportunities Act (TURBO Act), legislation that would expand and modernize a key federal financing tool used by state and local governments to deliver critical transportation infrastructure through public-private partnerships.
“Far too often, roads that need repaving and transportation facilities that need revamping are left unfixed because states and towns don’t have the funding they need,” said Duckworth. “Our bipartisan bill would help state and local governments supercharge their infrastructure financing—enabling them to deliver faster on projects, replace old buses, improve inter-city passenger rail and more. It’s critical we build on the incredible progress of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and this commonsense legislation would help us do just that.”
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“America’s transportation needs are growing, and we should be making it easier, not harder, for states and communities to finance the projects that keep goods and people moving,” said McCormick. “The TURBO Act modernizes a proven, low-cost financing tool critical so highway, transit, and rail projects in Pennsylvania can move forward. By expanding capacity and cutting outdated red tape, we can unlock more private investment in Pennsylvania and across the country.”
Private Activity Bonds (PABs) are tax-exempt bonds that state and local governments issue on behalf of private entities to finance projects that serve a public purpose. Administered by the Build America Bureau within the U.S. Department of Transportation, PABs are a critical tool for attracting private-sector investment in highways, transit and freight infrastructure. But the national volume cap for qualified highway and surface freight transfer facilities has been exhausted, with the current $30 billion cap fully allocated.
Beyond the cap, outdated rules also prevent communities from using these bonds for many of today's transportation needs. Current law generally allows the bonds to finance the construction of rail and bus infrastructure, but not the purchase of rolling stock. It also limits eligibility for passenger rail projects to those capable of reaching 150 miles per hour, leaving many modern rail projects that operate on shared freight corridors ineligible for this low-cost financing.
The TURBO Act would:
- Raise the national volume cap for qualified highway and surface freight transfer facilities from $30 billion to $45 billion, ensuring that critical transportation projects can continue to access low-cost financing through public-private partnerships.
- Expand the eligibility of mass commuting facility bonds to explicitly cover the acquisition of rolling stock — such as buses, railcars and ferries — lowering the cost of modernizing transit fleets and letting local communities determine their own infrastructure needs.
- Lower the speed threshold for high-speed intercity rail facilities from 150 miles per hour to 110 miles per hour, opening PAB financing to a far wider range of passenger rail investments, including projects that operate on shared rights-of-way with freight railroads.
Congress created this financing category in the 2005 Surface Transportation Authorization (SAFETEA-LU), which set the national cap at $15 billion and doubled it to $30 billion on a bipartisan basis in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). With nearly all of that expanded capacity now committed, communities risk losing access to affordable financing for major projects at a time when infrastructure demands continue to grow.
Full text of the bill is available on Senator Duckworth’s website.
Duckworth has been a leader in securing federal funding for infrastructure projects in Illinois and making public transportation more accessible for all. Last month, the Senator introduced legislation to reauthorize her All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP), which was included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and for the last five years has been making public transit stations across the nation more accessible and inclusive for all Americans, including people with disabilities.
Because of ASAP, Illinois received $185 million in funding for job creating Chicago Transit Authority and Metra projects to build ramps, install elevators and make other improvements to make the region’s public bus and rail system accessible.
