As the federally-designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Atlanta region, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) works with state and local transportation agencies, local governments and other partners to prioritize federal funding for transportation projects in the 20-county Atlanta region.
Any transportation project or program in the region utilizing federal funds must be approved by ARC and be included in the region’s comprehensive, long-range Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP). The current MTP, adopted in February 2024, includes $168.3 billion of investments through 2050 to maintain and improve metro Atlanta roads, highways, transit and bicycling/walking facilities. ARC also develops a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which allocates federal funds for use in construction of the highest-priority transportation projects contained in the first four years (FY 2024-2027) of the MTP.
ARC manages various tracking and forecasting tools to estimate revenue from all sources. For the current plan, it’s estimated that a minimum of $171.3 billion of funding will be available. This means the plan is fiscally conservative since about $3.0 billion remains uncommitted to meet potential future unexpected needs. Key state and local revenue data is updated monthly from Georgia Department of Revenue reports and the most recent revenue databases maintained by ARC are available upon request via transportation@atlantaregional.org.
For more details on how transportation is funded in the region, refer to the Financial Plan chapter of Volume I:Â 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan.
Federal Funding
About $43.7 billion of the region’s transportation funding will come from federal sources. This includes revenues from the Highway Trust Fund, which is supported by a national fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel. The fund has struggled to keep up with the nation’s needs, given increased fuel efficiency and rising construction costs, and has required numerous infusions from the General Fund over the years. The Highway Trust Fund is comprised of the Highway Account, which is administered by the Federal Highway Administration, and the Mass Transit Account, which is administered by the Federal Transit Administration.
Highway Trust Fund dollars are dispersed to the states based on a formula spelled out in the transportation spending bill passed by Congress. The current MTP and TIP were developed under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This legislation, also commonly referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) was signed into law in November 2021. It significantly increased the amount of federal funding, compared to previous federal legislation (FAST Act), which will be available to the Atlanta region through 2026. ARC worked with its federal, state and local agency partners to determine how this additional funding should be reflected in the priorities and schedules of projects in the new MTP and TIP. This presentation provides an overview of the new law.
State Funding
Another $52.6 billion billion of the region’s funding will come from state sources. The primary source is a fuel tax which is indexed to inflation and fuel economy standards. In 2024, the tax rate was set at 32.3 cents per gallon for gasoline and 36.2 cents per gallon for diesel fuel. The fuel tax is supplemented by a variety of fees imposed on electric vehicles, heavy vehicles and hotel lodging.
Regional Funding
There is no regional funding for transportation. However, MARTA is funded collectively by sales taxes in the three counties it serves: Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton. A 1 percent sales tax is levied in DeKalb, Clayton and the portion of Fulton that is outside of the City of Atlanta. Atlanta has a 1.5 percent MARTA sales tax. The transit agency also receives federal funding through grant programs. Total sales tax and farebox revenues generated by MARTA are estimated at $36.5 billion through 2050.
Local Funding
Many of the region’s counties fund transportation and other infrastructure projects with Special Purpose Local Option Sales Taxes (SPLOSTs). SPLOSTS, typically a 1 percent tax, are used to fund everything from school construction to transportation. Some jurisdictions have Transportation SPLOSTs (T-SPLOST) where 100% of the revenue collected must be dedicated by law to transportation projects. Most of these taxes last 4-to-5 years and are approved by voters through a referendum. SPLOSTs and T-SPLOSTs are jointly estimated to generate a minimum of $30.1 billion through 2050.
In addition to these dedicated streams, it’s estimated that $8.4 billion of additional local revenues will be available for transportation purposes over the life of the plan. These sources range from property taxes, non-SPLOST sales taxes, transit fares (for systems other than MARTA), permit fees, tax allocation, district collections and private sector partnerships.