U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
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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.
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% |
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 |
TOTAL HSIP FUNDS TRANSFERRED |
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% |
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% |