FTA bases annual apportionments for transit formula funding on U.S. Census data, which the U.S. Census Bureau publishes every 10 years. The 2020 Census urban area delineations can have substantial impacts to FTA grant recipients. The effects of the new Census boundaries will be reflected in FTA’s FY 2024 apportionments. FY 2023 apportionments will be unaffected.

What’s New

• On April 4, 2024, FTA announced $20.5 billion in federal funding available to support public transportation throughout the country, the latest tranche of support made possible thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding to states, urbanized areas and tribal governments, detailed in Apportionment Tables, is based on statutory formulas. There are two changes in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 that impact apportionment amounts.
  • FY24 apportionments reflect the U.S. Census Bureau’s new urbanized area boundaries and population figures released in December 2022. See Summary of FY24 Apportionment Changes and FY2024 Apportionments Webinar Presentation and Recording.
  • FTA used transit agencies’ most recent service numbers (2022) reported to the National Transit Database (NTD) to calculate apportionments.
• On Friday, December 7, 2023 FTA updated its Transit Award Management System (TrAMS) to include new and updated urbanized areas (UZAs) resulting from the 2020 Census. The Summary of 2020 Census Changes in TrAMS document provides an overview of the changes made in TrAMS, as well as the UZAs impacted by each type of change.
• On September 12, 2023, the Census Bureau published a Federal Register notice correcting the list of urban areas and modifying the population, housing, and land area of a small number of urban areas where a processing error was discovered. This publication includes official notice of the changes to San Francisco—Oakland, CA/ San Rafael—Novato, CA, Atlanta, GA/ Gainesville, GA, and New Orleans, LA/ Laplace—Lutcher—Gramercy, LA.
• On June 5, 2023, FTA and FHWA announced the Transportation Management Areas from the 2020 Census in the Federal Register.

FTA Resources

2020 Census Changes

• Crosswalk of 2020 Census Changes UZA/Population – Identifies changes to Urbanized Areas from 2010 to 2020 that are relevant to FTA programs. 
• FTA Census Map - Allows for geographic visualization of Urban Area changes from 2010 to 2020 and includes other relevant information to evaluate potential impacts.
• FTA Census Map Access Guide – Instructions to use the FTA Census Map tool.

FTA Program Requirements 

• Notable FTA Program Requirement Changes from 2020 Census – Select program requirement differences between FTA formula funding tiers.
• 2020 Census Impacts to FTA Eligible Activities and Appropriations –Changes to FTA formula program eligible activities and apportionments based on 2020 Census changes. 
• FTA Recipients and Formula Factors Table – Identifies recipients and formula factors by FTA formula program 
• Additional FTA Program Requirement Resources – Links that provide more complete information on program requirements for FTA grant recipients.

TrAMS Updates

• Summary of 2020 Census Changes in TrAMS - Overview of the changes made in TrAMS, as well as the UZAs impacted by each type of change.
• Overview of the Impact of the 2020 Census and the Release of New Urban Area Boundaries in TrAMS - A recorded presentation that describes the 2020 Census changes to TrAMS in further detail.

National Transit Database

• NTD 2020 Census Updates for Report Year 2022 for Urban Reporters
• NTD 2020 Census Updates for Report Year 2022 for Rural Reporters
• NTD Census Page – National Transit Database resources and FAQs related to the decennial census.

Additional Resources

• Additional 2020 Census Information Related to FTA’s Metropolitan Planning Requirements
• FTA 2020 Census Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs regarding the 2020 Census and its implications for FTA recipients.
• FTA Webinars and Training – Presentations and recordings addressing subjects relevant to new FTA recipients and other frequently requested topics

Past Events

• Webinar Series
  • Webinar 1: May 10, 2022; Census 2020: Impacts on Transit
  • Webinar 2: February 9, 2023; 2020 Census and Impacts for FTA Funding Recipients
  • Webinar 3: August 1, 2023; 2020 Census Implementation in Transportation Planning 

Other Federal Resources 

Census Bureau

• 2020 Census Urban Areas FAQs
• 2020 Census Bureau Urban and Rural Classification page
• 2020 Census Shapefiles
• Federal Register Notice of 2020 Census Qualifying Urban Areas and Final Criteria Clarifications 

Federal Highway Administration

• Census Urban Areas and MPO/TMA Designation FAQs
• Census Urban Areas and MPO/TMA Designation FAQ Topics
• TMA Designation Schedule