DOT Budget History: Federal Funding 1976–2026

The Department of Transportation funds the research behind how Americans move: the Federal Aviation Administration's work on air-traffic systems and aviation safety, railroad research, highway technology, and the safety science behind vehicle standards.

This is one of the steadiest lines in the federal research budget. Adjusted for inflation, transportation research and development (R&D) has hovered around $1 billion in 2017 dollars essentially since 1976 — dipping in the 1980s, recovering in the early 1990s as new surface-transportation law passed, and touching its real-terms high of about $1.3 billion in 2022, the era of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Fiscal year 2025 came in at about $1.5 billion in current dollars, and the 2026 estimate of roughly $1.4 billion — carried over from the White House budget request — would keep the half-century pattern intact. Congress has since enacted the FY 2026 budget; the budget-cycle section below shows where the department's main research accounts landed.

Fig. 1 · Budget history

Transportation research has hovered near $1 billion in 2017 dollars for five decades, with its real-terms high in 2022.

The DOT research and development (R&D) budget, every fiscal year on record.

Millions of constant 2017 dollars — adjusted for inflationFY 2026: budget-request estimate

Source: AAAS Historical R&D Data · as of 2025-10-23

1992Surface transportation act era. Research rebounds as the early-1990s surface-transportation law takes effect.
2022Infrastructure law peak. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law era lifts research to its real-terms high of about $1.3 billion in 2017 dollars.

The numbers behind this figure

DOT research and development (R&D) budget by fiscal year. Dollar values in millions; source AAAS Historical R&D Data.
Fiscal year	Nominal dollars	Constant 2017 dollars	R&D share of GDP
1976	322	1,120	0.018%
1977	331	1,074	0.016%
1978	373	1,134	0.016%
1979	350	985	0.014%
1980	397	1,027	0.014%
1981	407	959	0.013%
1982	312	687	0.009%
1983	371	784	0.011%
1984	489	997	0.012%
1985	439	866	0.01%
1986	379	731	0.008%
1987	309	582	0.006%
1988	314	574	0.006%
1989	326	573	0.006%
1990	354	599	0.006%
1991	411	673	0.007%
1992	621	991	0.01%
1993	621	968	0.009%
1994	641	978	0.009%
1995	666	995	0.009%
1996	601	881	0.008%
1997	612	882	0.007%
1998	590	839	0.007%
1999	607	854	0.006%
2000	607	836	0.006%
2001	718	966	0.007%
2002	778	1,030	0.007%
2003	700	909	0.006%
2004	665	843	0.006%
2005	707	870	0.006%
2006	817	974	0.006%
2007	767	890	0.005%
2008	875	994	0.006%
2009	925	1,040	0.006%
2010	1,073	1,197	0.007%
2011	954	1,043	0.006%
2012	919	987	0.006%
2013	818	863	0.005%
2014	797	825	0.005%
2015	887	909	0.005%
2016	881	896	0.005%
2017	921	921	0.005%
2018	1,011	989	0.005%
2019	1,033	992	0.005%
2020	1,095	1,038	0.005%
2021	1,071	982	0.005%
2022	1,554	1,331	0.006%
2023	1,411	1,156	0.005%
2024	1,432	1,143	0.005%
2025	1,468	1,146	0.005%
2026est.	1,418	1,085	0.005%

Fig. 2 · Where the money goes

Aviation research is the biggest line, alongside railroad, highway, and safety research programs.

The major DOT budget lines tracked by AAAS. These are appropriations accounts: they overlap the budget-history series but are not an exact decomposition of it.

Millions of constant 2017 dollars — adjusted for inflationFY 2026: budget-request estimateResearch, Engineering and DevelopmentRailroad Research and DevelopmentOperations and ResearchResearch and Technology + Trasportation Planning, Research and Development

Source: AAAS Historical R&D Data · as of 2025-10-23

The numbers behind this figure

DOT budget lines by fiscal year, in millions of constant 2017 dollars. Source AAAS Historical R&D Data.
Fiscal year	Research, Engineering and Development	Railroad Research and Development	Operations and Research	Research and Technology + Trasportation Planning, Research and Development
1989	258	16	52	10
1990	319	16	29	4
1991	400	36	35	7
1992	431	36	41	7
1993	434	39	49	7
1994	445	31	39	6
1995	447	41	59	6
1996	340	44	48	4
1997	300	29	190	3
1998	283	30	209	6
1999	211	31	226	13
2000	215	30	220	7
2001	254	34	261	15
2002	262	38	271	20
2003	186	37	266	29
2004	146	42	277	26
2005	155	43	271	23
2006	159	64	271	7
2007	148	40	260	9
2008	165	40	264	13
2009	191	38	260	20
2010	209	42	269	20
2011	182	38	264	11
2012	177	42	263	9
2013	172	39	106	10
2014	136	36	264	7
2015	159	40	273	6
2016	166	39	296	9
2017	173	39	319	12
2018	181	39	325	13
2019	188	39	184	30
2020	228	39	183	74
2021	218	38	180	73
2022	229	44	183	80
2023	178	39	178	56
2024	129	34	174	59
2025	176	34	162	51
2026est.	222	33	161	51

Appropriations

The current budget cycle: FY 2026 enacted, FY 2027 requested

What Congress enacted for fiscal year 2026 and what the White House has requested for FY 2027, account by account. Budget authority in millions of dollars.

DOT R&D4

FAA Research, Eng & Dev, FY 2026 enacted$290MFY 2027 request $165M-43.1%
Research & Technology, FY 2026 enacted$74MFY 2027 request $40M-46.3%
Railroad Administration R&D, FY 2026 enacted$40MFY 2027 request $26M-34.5%
ARPA-I, FY 2026 enacted$9MFY 2027 request $0M-100%

Go deeperThe full appropriations tracker, every agency

Common questions3

How much research funding does the Department of Transportation receive?

DOT had about $1.5 billion in R&D budget authority in fiscal year 2025.

What research does DOT fund?

The Department of Transportation funds the research behind how Americans move: the Federal Aviation Administration's work on air-traffic systems and aviation safety, railroad research, highway technology, and the safety science behind vehicle standards.

How has DOT's research budget changed over time?

Transportation research has hovered near $1 billion in 2017 dollars for five decades, with its real-terms high in 2022.