New toolkit aims to help rural areas better access infrastructure grants

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced this week an initiative aimed at helping rural communities get more grant money for infrastructure projects. The Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success (ROUTES) initiative includes an online toolkit to help more easily find and complete applications for infrastructure project grants.

"While only 19 percent of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, 45% of all roadway fatalities and 34% of all public highway-rail grade crossing fatalities occur on rural roads, and the fatality rate on rural roads is two times higher than on urban roads," Rhonda Brooks reports for Farm Journal's Ag Professional.