WASHINGTON — Congress has approved a 5-year, $305 billion bill to address the nation’s aging and congested transportation systems, loading down the measure with industry favors, parochial projects, safety improvements and union demands, to win overwhelming bipartisan support.

The bill was approved 359-65 in the House, and 83-16 in the Senate.

The bill that was passed on Thursday now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature.

The bill boosts highway and transit spending and assures states that federal help will be available for major projects.

It doesn’t include as much money or last quite as long as many lawmakers and the Obama administration would have liked. Nor does it resolve how to pay for transportation programs in the long term.

Despite that, the 1,300-page bill was hailed by industry and public officials as a major accomplishment that will halt the cycle of last-minute short-term fixes that have kept the federal Highway Trust Fund teetering on the edge of insolvency for much of the past eight years.