Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning 2018 Notice of Funding

Details:

05/24/2018. Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO): Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of approximately $25.79 million in Pilot Program for TOD Planning funding to support comprehensive planning associated with new fixed guideway and core capacity improvement projects. FTA may award amounts ranging from $250,000 to $2,000,000. Synopses and full announcement are posted on Grants.gov site as opportunity FTA-2018-004-TPE. Proposals must be submitted electronically through the Grants.gov website by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on July 23, 2018.

Summary:

The Pilot Program for TOD Planning provides funding to local communities to integrate land use and transportation planning in new fixed guideway and core capacity transit project corridors. As required by statute, any comprehensive planning funded through the pilot program must examine ways to improve economic development and ridership, foster multimodal connectivity and accessibility, improve transit access for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, engage the private sector, identify infrastructure needs, and enable mixed-use development near transit stations. The statute also requires that the planning work be associated with a new fixed guideway or core capacity transit project as defined in Federal transit statute (49 USC 5309(a); also see the NOFO for the definitions).

Consistent with statutory direction, FTA is seeking comprehensive planning projects covering an entire transit capital project corridor, rather than proposals that involve planning for individual station areas or only a small section of the corridor. To ensure that planning work reflects the needs and aspirations of the local community and results in concrete, specific deliverables and outcomes, FTA is requiring that transit project sponsors partner with entities with land use planning authority in the transit project corridor.

Eligible Applicants:

Any comprehensive planning work proposed for funding under this program must be associated with an eligible transit capital project, namely a new fixed guideway project or a core capacity improvement project as defined in Section 5309(a) of title 49, United States Code.  These statutory definitions are also provided in section (C)(3)(i) of the NOFO.

Applicants and eventual grant recipients under this program must be FTA grantees as of the publication date of the NOFO. A proposer must either be the project sponsor of an eligible transit capital project as defined above or an entity with land use planning authority in an eligible transit capital project corridor. Evidence of a partnership between these two types of entities will be required unless the applicant has both responsibilities. Please refer to the NOFO for further information.

Only one application per transit capital project corridor may be submitted to FTA. Multiple applications submitted for a single transit capital project corridor indicates to FTA that partnerships are not in place and FTA will reject all of the applications.

Link and Instructions for attaching the supplemental form to the SF-424:

All applicants must complete the supplemental form specific to the Pilot Program for TOD Planning and attach it to their submission in Grants.gov. Applicants should refer to section D of the NOFO for further information about required application contents.

Webinar: 

FTA held a webinar on this funding opportunity on June 14. The webinar provided an overview of the program, described eligible applicants and projects, and provided an opportunity for attendees to obtain answers to other questions. View a recording of the webinar or the presentation slides.

Dates:

An applicant must submit a proposal electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on July 23, 2018. Any agency intending to apply should initiate the process of registering on the Grants.gov site immediately to ensure completion of registration before the submission deadline.

For information on this NOFO for the Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning, contact Benjamin Owen, Office of Planning and Environment, 202-366-5602.