About the Program
Overview
Discretionary & Competitive Federal Grant Program
- Authorized up to $4.6 billion per year, subject to Congressional appropriations
- Funds light rail, heavy rail, commuter rail, streetcar, and bus rapid transit projects
BIL outlines: Multi-year, multi-step process projects must follow to receive funds
- Points during process when FTA must evaluate and rate projects
- Evaluation criteria that must be used
- 5 point scale from low to high for ratings
- Annual Report to Congress that must include ratings for each project and the Administration’s funding recommendations
BIL Eligible Projects
New Starts
- Total project cost is equal to or greater than $400 million or total New Starts funding sought equals or exceeds $150 million
- New fixed guideway system (light rail, commuter rail, etc.)
- Extension to existing system
- Fixed guideway BRT system
Small Starts
- Total project cost is less than $400 million and total Small Starts funding sought is less than $150 million
- New fixed guideway systems (light rail, commuter rail, etc.)
- Extension to existing system
- Fixed guideway BRT system
- Corridor-based BRT system
Core Capacity
- Substantial corridor-based investment in existing fixed guideway system
- Project must:
- Be located in a corridor that is at or over capacity or will be in ten years
- Increase capacity by 10%
- "not include project elements designated to maintain a state of good repair"
Bundling
- BIL establishes a process for bundling of projects to allow sponsors to move multiple projects through the CIG pipeline simultaneously.
Last updated: Tuesday, October 24, 2023