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FHWA Home / Safety / HSIP / General HSIP Information / Obligation Rates for the Highway Safety Improvement Program

Obligation Rates for the Highway Safety Improvement Program

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An obligation is a definite commitment that creates a legal liability of the government for the payment, or a legal duty on the part of the United States that could mature into a legal liability by virtue of actions on the part of the State or local public agency (LPA). A Federal agency incurs an obligation when it records an obligation under a grant agreement to pay the State (or LPA) for the Federal share of a project's eligible cost. This commitment is generally made as both the Federal and State governments agree to specific project expenditures based upon a defined scope of work. Under the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), obligations are recorded against HSIP funds that were distributed via a formula provided in the law; these funds are commonly referred to as an apportionment. From the Federal perspective, the obligation to apportionment ratio is a way to represent the degree to which a State is using HSIP funds, as shown in Table 1 below. Using apportionment figures for the calculations addresses two issues: 1) funding available is subject to transfer activities and 2) apportionments more accurately represent the extent to which States are using HSIP as a funding source.

HSIP funding obligation rates are not necessarily a reflection of a State's commitment to safety. There are many other ways to fund safety improvements. This summary does not show why obligations rates are high or low, or how safe highways may be in each State, as the information below does not include safety improvements that are planned, but not yet obligated, does not include transfer of funds to another agency, and does not reflect safety spending through other core programs such as the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program or the National Highway Performance Program, or funded by non-Federal funds.

HSIP Cumulative Obligations vs. Cumulative Apportionments Through Fiscal Year 2021

Table 1 illustrates the ratio of the HSIP cumulative obligations to the cumulative apportionments for each State through the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. FY 2014 through FY 2019 includes combined funds from the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. FY 2020 through FY 2021 includes funds only from the FAST Act. The obligation rates include the Railway-Highway Crossings Program (RHCP) and the High Risk Rural Roads (HRRR) Special Rule funding under MAP-21 and the FAST Act. MAP-21 (and the subsequent extension of MAP-21) was in effect from October 2013 through September 2015. The FAST Act went into effect on October 1, 2015.

Table 1: HSIP Cumulative Obligation Rates by State

STATE

FISCAL YEAR

MAP 21 & FAST ACT

FAST ACT

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Alabama

32.6%

41.5%

51.3%

54.8%

60.4%

63.1%

67.4%

70.6%

Alaska

93.7%

98.0%

98.5%

98.8%

91.9%

82.9%

91.7%

86.6%

Arizona

54.5%

56.4%

65.3%

77.5%

74.1%

66.4%

46.3%

53.6%

Arkansas

28.7%

27.9%

51.1%

59.9%

74.5%

80.2%

117.7%

101.9%

California

79.6%

86.3%

108.3%

123.6%

135.2%

139.2%

200.6%

216.1%

Colorado

51.7%

65.3%

63.2%

75.4%

73.1%

71.3%

52.3%

59.2%

Connecticut

30.9%

51.4%

61.0%

67.0%

77.7%

77.6%

92.8%

89.7%

Delaware

86.7%

92.9%

91.7%

97.6%

99.5%

88.4%

81.9%

87.5%

District of Columbia

6.0%

54.0%

94.1%

98.9%

99.0%

99.9%

95.9%

93.6%

Florida

63.3%

79.9%

79.3%

86.7%

87.5%

74.9%

71.3%

82.8%

Georgia

69.4%

65.5%

78.8%

85.3%

90.7%

88.5%

100.7%

103.7%

Hawaii

1.9%

1.3%

17.5%

55.4%

59.9%

56.9%

42.0%

57.8%

Idaho

5.9%

29.8%

44.7%

56.4%

71.0%

69.2%

79.7%

82.3%

Illinois

50.6%

60.7%

74.6%

71.3%

78.4%

79.9%

70.0%

74.9%

Indiana

6.7%

17.1%

28.4%

31.5%

37.9%

37.8%

48.7%

53.1%

Iowa

52.9%

67.5%

69.2%

70.1%

75.8%

75.0%

61.2%

64.3%

Kansas

30.7%

56.3%

52.9%

65.8%

71.5%

76.0%

73.3%

83.2%

Kentucky

15.8%

43.1%

48.5%

59.1%

69.4%

64.7%

84.3%

86.3%

Louisiana

94.1%

73.0%

90.9%

85.5%

89.8%

96.0%

87.5%

81.8%

Maine

68.2%

91.1%

90.6%

91.7%

89.2%

91.6%

81.9%

76.9%

Maryland

22.5%

33.1%

42.5%

40.8%

41.6%

36.3%

22.5%

36.4%

Massachusetts

91.2%

97.0%

95.5%

100.1%

98.6%

95.8%

91.3%

85.4%

Michigan

86.3%

85.8%

81.8%

87.6%

88.2%

90.0%

83.6%

85.8%

Minnesota

40.5%

45.8%

52.7%

60.8%

65.4%

66.1%

61.7%

63.2%

Mississippi

98.0%

100.0%

100.0%

99.3%

98.5%

93.0%

96.6%

97.2%

Missouri

45.7%

59.2%

65.6%

86.8%

98.5%

98.0%

94.0%

94.0%

Montana

48.4%

59.6%

78.8%

81.0%

82.6%

74.2%

65.5%

74.0%

Nebraska

61.6%

79.8%

77.9%

81.0%

79.8%

83.4%

67.0%

76.6%

Nevada

98.1%

98.8%

97.7%

93.6%

88.6%

81.8%

66.8%

70.1%

New Hampshire

93.6%

89.9%

93.0%

89.0%

87.3%

86.8%

78.7%

77.5%

New Jersey

24.5%

44.8%

52.9%

51.7%

54.6%

54.6%

43.9%

50.9%

New Mexico

27.4%

44.9%

49.7%

59.3%

70.7%

71.6%

77.8%

80.6%

New York

41.3%

58.9%

56.7%

80.1%

82.2%

71.7%

69.8%

75.9%

North Carolina

54.8%

73.2%

80.3%

84.5%

87.0%

84.1%

91.5%

93.7%

North Dakota

70.1%

72.5%

75.1%

84.9%

93.6%

95.1%

107.9%

112.8%

Ohio

97.1%

99.3%

99.3%

87.7%

89.4%

87.5%

90.1%

97.1%

Oklahoma

82.4%

88.5%

91.1%

94.4%

96.1%

89.5%

89.7%

93.1%

Oregon

44.0%

57.3%

78.7%

80.5%

73.4%

69.0%

64.6%

69.5%

Pennsylvania

62.4%

64.9%

78.7%

77.8%

79.3%

78.1%

69.3%

73.9%

Rhode Island

53.2%

53.6%

50.7%

57.4%

67.4%

73.4%

68.7%

78.3%

South Carolina

85.9%

97.0%

87.6%

86.5%

89.4%

79.3%

73.8%

69.8%

South Dakota

7.4%

16.3%

59.7%

99.8%

128.0%

121.5%

177.9%

200.7%

Tennessee

59.8%

72.0%

83.3%

88.4%

89.0%

87.5%

87.1%

91.4%

Texas

63.2%

89.8%

91.2%

91.0%

89.8%

80.5%

77.5%

82.4%

Utah

61.6%

93.4%

88.9%

94.6%

89.6%

90.3%

95.8%

96.2%

Vermont

38.7%

53.6%

72.1%

81.2%

82.6%

78.0%

84.3%

81.9%

Virginia

91.3%

77.4%

85.7%

86.8%

86.1%

78.4%

67.0%

68.6%

Washington

60.9%

62.2%

79.1%

79.4%

78.9%

82.1%

72.6%

83.5%

West Virginia

23.4%

34.9%

44.1%

54.4%

85.9%

89.9%

93.7%

76.9%

Wisconsin

2.8%

4.8%

19.4%

32.8%

36.7%

36.5%

33.5%

44.1%

Wyoming

84.2%

79.9%

76.4%

85.7%

91.7%

97.7%

83.4%

83.0%

Total

58.1%

68.6%

76.6%

82.4%

86.2%

83.6%

86.7%

91.5%

Funding Transferred to Other Core Apportioned Programs Through Fiscal Year 2021

A "transfer" involves the shifting of the budget (contract) authority in one fund account to another. The HSIP is subject to the transfer provision under section 126 of Title 23, United States Code (U.S.C.). Under this provision, States are permitted to transfer up to 50 percent of their HSIP funds apportioned for the fiscal year to any other eligible core apportioned program. As of September 30, 2021, 23 States transferred FAST Act funds out of the HSIP into to other core apportioned programs and 9 States transferred funds from other core apportioned programs into the HSIP. Table 2 below shows the transfer amounts and rates from FY 2016 through FY 2021. Table 2 does not include transfer of funds to another agency.

Table 2: HSIP FAST Act Funding Transferred To/From Other Core Apportioned Programs

STATE

TOTAL HSIP APPORTIONMENT
(2016-2021)

TOTAL HSIP FUNDS TRANSFERRED
(2016-2021)

TRANSFER RATE

Alabama

$267,368,837

($47,251,135)

-17.67%

Alaska

$182,098,930

$14,282,155

7.84%

Arkansas

$182,107,658

$32,483,939

17.84%

California

$1,191,206,685

$1,385,000,000

116.27%

Colorado

$167,134,832

($35,192,970)

-21.06%

Connecticut

$174,704,854

($1,501,867)

-0.86%

Florida

$708,208,166

($95,549,529)

-13.49%

Georgia

$414,758,048

$75,040,000

18.09%

Indiana

$314,129,528

($126,766,982)

-40.36%

Kansas

$110,314,387

($7,420,302)

-6.73%

Kentucky

$233,852,428

($26,614,768)

-11.38%

Maryland

$206,510,094

($85,329,940)

-41.32%

Massachusetts

$196,333,964

($500,000)

-0.25%

Minnesota

$212,733,933

($22,521,062)

-10.59%

Montana

$143,770,946

$6,698,423

4.66%

Nevada

$122,426,299

($35,624,276)

-29.10%

New Hampshire

$55,518,483

($4,792,769)

-8.63%

New Jersey

$330,619,908

($146,936,259)

-44.44%

New Mexico

$125,339,240

($17,179,476)

-13.71%

New York

$562,298,261

($154,969,065)

-27.56%

North Dakota

$72,311,971

$24,038,597

33.24%

Oregon

$173,455,161

($44,520,109)

-25.67%

Rhode Island

$76,530,334

($14,526,780)

-18.98%

South Dakota

$89,228,126

$121,526,902

136.20%

Texas

$1,293,862,195

($137,806,460)

-10.65%

Utah

$118,485,478

($46,615)

-0.04%

Vermont

$70,231,734

($5,610,244)

-7.99%

Virginia

$344,999,774

$2,021,431

0.59%

Washington

$220,445,908

$2,718,684

1.23%

West Virginia

$160,296,395

($13,500,000)

-8.42%

Wisconsin

$258,026,802

($123,736,732)

-47.95%

Wyoming

$93,013,953

($8,000,000)

-8.60%

RHCP Cumulative Obligations vs. Cumulative Apportionments Through Fiscal Year 2021

Rail-Highway Crossings Program (RHCP) Section 130 funds are set-aside from the HSIP apportionment. The RHCP set-aside funds are apportioned to States by formula. Table 3 illustrates the ratio of the RHCP (Section 130) set-aside obligations to the apportionments for each State through the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. FY 2014 through FY 2019 includes combined funds from MAP-21 and the FAST Act. FY 2020 through FY 2021 includes funds only from the FAST Act.

As noted above, RHCP funding obligation rates are not a reflection of a State's commitment to safety. This summary does not show why obligations rates are high or low, or how safe rail-highway crossings may be in each State, as the information in Table 3 does not include safety improvements that are planned, but not yet obligated, and does not reflect safety spending through other core programs.

Table 3: RHCP Cumulative Obligation Rates by State

STATE

FISCAL YEAR

MAP-21 & FAST ACT

FAST ACT

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Alabama

0.0%

4.7%

34.7%

53.1%

47.1%

34.6%

14.9%

28.9%

Alaska

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

98.3%

100.0%

87.6%

66.9%

Arizona

13.3%

43.3%

55.3%

59.4%

51.8%

45.8%

33.8%

39.5%

Arkansas

37.1%

31.3%

36.6%

44.1%

48.9%

59.3%

59.9%

53.1%

California

5.7%

9.7%

22.0%

53.5%

60.3%

59.7%

52.4%

58.4%

Colorado

31.5%

21.6%

24.2%

37.8%

47.1%

70.8%

53.9%

89.4%

Connecticut

14.4%

9.6%

31.9%

47.6%

54.1%

61.2%

91.4%

97.4%

Delaware

7.6%

35.0%

42.5%

100.0%

100.0%

98.8%

89.1%

79.5%

District of Columbia

0.0%

62.4%

60.5%

100.0%

92.1%

99.0%

94.8%

79.8%

Florida

97.8%

92.2%

83.4%

95.5%

94.1%

89.8%

85.7%

94.7%

Georgia

9.3%

10.8%

25.8%

53.3%

57.1%

60.9%

58.3%

63.1%

Hawaii

15.7%

10.5%

32.4%

45.2%

47.6%

76.0%

97.0%

81.6%

Idaho

0.0%

2.7%

21.5%

41.1%

46.6%

52.7%

35.9%

39.4%

Illinois

0.0%

1.3%

47.1%

39.8%

47.0%

59.2%

43.4%

52.8%

Indiana

10.9%

10.1%

36.6%

37.8%

61.3%

68.6%

67.4%

60.2%

Iowa

29.5%

33.4%

35.4%

41.9%

49.4%

61.9%

57.2%

55.5%

Kansas

69.5%

75.1%

57.5%

79.0%

93.5%

82.0%

73.8%

76.2%

Kentucky

0.0%

8.1%

35.4%

36.0%

46.1%

82.2%

57.9%

59.7%

Louisiana

77.8%

62.8%

64.7%

58.7%

58.3%

59.2%

42.2%

51.8%

Maine

23.6%

27.2%

25.0%

32.9%

22.7%

39.4%

32.0%

43.9%

Maryland

49.6%

45.6%

54.5%

61.6%

50.6%

51.3%

37.1%

47.4%

Massachusetts

0.0%

94.4%

83.0%

94.9%

91.1%

93.1%

68.8%

54.2%

Michigan

26.8%

21.0%

32.4%

45.3%

52.7%

65.3%

60.0%

57.1%

Minnesota

11.2%

29.2%

34.5%

38.4%

48.3%

51.3%

35.5%

43.8%

Mississippi

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

94.2%

87.6%

75.3%

97.0%

97.5%

Missouri

62.1%

93.8%

92.3%

86.8%

85.8%

81.1%

71.6%

66.0%

Montana

67.8%

77.7%

78.0%

91.4%

96.9%

89.3%

85.8%

82.3%

Nebraska

0.0%

1.0%

34.5%

61.2%

59.8%

79.3%

55.9%

60.9%

Nevada

99.1%

77.8%

61.2%

61.4%

54.7%

52.6%

29.0%

64.8%

New Hampshire

59.3%

43.3%

46.3%

42.1%

47.5%

50.2%

31.9%

41.6%

New Jersey

99.8%

96.7%

92.1%

98.2%

95.1%

95.9%

79.3%

94.0%

New Mexico

33.6%

41.0%

64.7%

68.0%

62.9%

62.5%

37.4%

45.9%

New York

40.5%

29.8%

47.1%

42.9%

46.3%

59.9%

53.0%

53.3%

North Carolina

83.8%

85.6%

90.0%

91.7%

91.2%

78.7%

57.9%

66.1%

North Dakota

3.9%

12.6%

59.2%

71.9%

78.5%

82.6%

77.0%

81.7%

Ohio

99.5%

97.9%

99.2%

100.0%

96.2%

100.0%

97.0%

97.4%

Oklahoma

3.1%

44.8%

47.5%

64.3%

72.6%

75.6%

62.1%

92.5%

Oregon

37.5%

36.9%

45.8%

51.3%

53.7%

60.0%

53.5%

50.1%

Pennsylvania

0.0%

1.3%

24.0%

37.0%

47.7%

60.5%

45.8%

52.7%

Rhode Island

48.5%

36.9%

22.3%

35.6%

48.8%

61.1%

45.0%

53.4%

South Carolina

66.0%

70.2%

53.3%

68.2%

79.4%

69.4%

51.9%

59.0%

South Dakota

0.0%

15.8%

24.3%

36.6%

56.4%

60.2%

48.7%

56.5%

Tennessee

0.0%

14.7%

66.5%

82.1%

68.4%

63.4%

53.7%

73.6%

Texas

34.0%

57.7%

55.9%

53.3%

47.7%

45.2%

17.2%

41.5%

Utah

46.4%

46.8%

40.4%

46.4%

56.1%

81.2%

91.3%

89.2%

Vermont

0.0%

0.0%

92.5%

98.0%

85.3%

72.5%

86.4%

92.2%

Virginia

30.2%

50.0%

50.3%

47.3%

51.6%

43.9%

25.7%

23.1%

Washington

0.0%

16.4%

55.9%

47.1%

58.7%

74.2%

61.8%

63.6%

West Virginia

47.3%

53.6%

58.4%

52.4%

48.6%

67.9%

59.5%

64.0%

Wisconsin

11.0%

21.2%

21.0%

25.3%

32.4%

39.5%

28.4%

36.9%

Wyoming

88.1%

60.9%

54.5%

57.3%

65.5%

73.1%

50.9%

58.3%

Total

33.4%

40.4%

51.0%

59.3%

62.7%

66.1%

54.9%

61.5%

 

Page last modified on January 25, 2022
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