State leaders expect Massachusetts to receive more than $5 billion for highways and transit improvements through the recently approved H.R. 22, Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which passed through Congress last week, according to a news release from Rep. Michael E. Capuano, a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

The new funding will offer the commonwealth an increase of more than $447 million, or 9.7 percent, over current funding levels, Capuano said. FAST will deal out $305 billion nationwide.

“No legislation is perfect, but in a climate where virtually every federal program is at risk of steep cuts, I am very encouraged over the amount of federal transportation dollars designated for Massachusetts,” Capuano said in the release. “Transportation dollars not only improve the overall infrastructure, they create jobs and benefit the economy. The White House Council of Economic Advisors has estimated that for every $1 billion in federal funds spent on highways and transit, 13,000 jobs are supported for a year, so this bill can be fairly expected to support over 4 million jobs during the next five years.”

Of the $305 billion FAST funds, $10.2 billion is authorized for passenger rail, including $8 billion for Amtrak and $2.2 billion for new state-of-good repair grant programs, rail safety and infrastructure, according to Capuano. Additionally, over $22 million per year will go toward firefighter training grants, and a National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau will be created. The new bureau will be regulated for best practices, especially regarding public-private partnerships.

Capuano noted that in the future Massachusetts will be eligible to pursue several Federal Transit Authority competitive grant programs, including a $303 million per year bus discretionary program and a $20 million per year research program, which “gives Massachusetts and other states new funding streams they can use to advance their transportation priorities.”