Grant Programs
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, as enacted in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, was signed into law by President Biden in November 2021 and is the largest federal investment in public transportation in the nation’s history. The legislation reauthorizes surface transportation programs for FY 2022-2026 and provides advance appropriations for certain programs. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law authorizes up to $108 billion to support federal public transportation programs, including $91 billion in guaranteed funding.
| Title | Description | Grant Type |
|---|---|---|
| Safety Research and Demonstration Program | The Safety Research and Demonstration (SRD) Program is part of a larger safety research effort at the U.S. Department of Transportation that provides technical and financial support for transit agencies to pursue innovative approaches to eliminate or mitigate safety hazards. The SRD program focuses on demonstration of technologies and safer designs. | Competitive |
| Tribal Transit Formula Grants - 5311(c)(1)(B) | Provides funding to federally recognized Indian tribes to provide public transportation services on and around Indian reservations or tribal land in rural areas. Funding is provided as a set-aside within of the Formula Grants to Rural Areas program and allocated both by statutory formula and through a competitive discretionary program. | Formula |
| Mobility, Access & Transportation Insecurity: Creating Links to Opportunity Research and Demonstration Program | Funds a research and demonstration effort to improve people’s access to affordable transportation, especially in areas that currently lack efficient and convenient transit options and measure the effect of reducing transportation insecurity through improved mobility access on people and their communities. | Competitive |
| Rail Vehicle Replacement Grants | Provides competitive awards to states and local governmental authorities to assist in funding capital projects to replace rail rolling stock. | Competitive |
| Low and No-Emission Component Assessment Program (LoNo-CAP) | On September 29, 2016, FTA announced the opportunity for eligible institutions of higher education to apply for funding to conduct testing, evaluation, and analysis of low or no emission (LoNo) components intended for use in LoNo transit buses used to provide public transportation. The deadline for applications is November 28, 2016. | Competitive |
| Formula Grants for Rural Areas - 5311 | Provides capital, planning, and operating assistance to states to support public transportation in rural areas with populations less than 50,000, where many residents often rely on public transit to reach their destinations. | Formula |
| Route Planning Restoration Program | The Route Planning Restoration Program provides funds under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for public transportation planning associated with the restoration of transit service reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | Competitive |
| Enhanced Mobility of Seniors & Individuals with Disabilities - Section 5310 | Formula funding to states for the purpose of assisting private nonprofit groups in meeting transportation needs of the elderly and persons with disabilities. | Formula |
| Rural Transportation Assistance Program - 5311(b)(3) | Provides funding to states for developing training, technical assistance, research, and related support services in rural areas. The program also includes a national program that provides information and materials for use by local operators and state administering agencies and supports research and technical assistance projects of national interest. | Formula |
| Transit Cooperative Research Program - 5312(i) | Research program that develops near-term, practical solutions such as best practices, transit security guidelines, testing prototypes, and new planning and management tools. | Competitive |
| Public Transportation Innovation - 5312 | Provides funding to develop innovative products and services assisting transit agencies in better meeting the needs of their customers. | Competitive |
| Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone Program | In keeping with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s focus on addressing the deteriorating conditions and disproportionately high fatality rates on our rural transportation infrastructure, FTA’s Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone (HOPE) Program supports projects that will address the transportation challenges faced by areas of persistent poverty. | Competitive |
| Expedited Project Delivery Pilot Program - Section 3005(b) | The EPD Pilot Program, authorized by Section 3005(b) of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act), is aimed at expediting delivery of new fixed guideway capital projects, small starts projects, or core capacity improvement projects. These projects must utilize public-private partnerships, be operated and maintained by employees of an existing public transportation provider, and have a Federal share not exceeding 25 percent of the project cost. FTA will notify applicants in writing within 120 days after the receipt of a complete application whether the application has been... | Competitive |
| Public Transportation on Indian Reservations Program; Tribal Transit Competitive Program | The Tribal Transit Program is a set-aside from the Formula Grants for Rural Areas program consisting of an approximately $36 million formula program and a $9 million competitive grant program subject to the availability of appropriations. There is no local match required under both the formula program and competitive program. | Competitive |
| Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Formula Program - 5339(a) | Provides funding to states and transit agencies through a statutory formula to replace, rehabilitate and purchase buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities. In addition to the formula allocation, this program includes two discretionary components: The Bus and Bus Facilities Discretionary Program and the Low or No Emissions Bus Discretionary Program. | Formula |
| Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility Grants | This program provides competitive funding to support innovative capital projects for the transportation disadvantaged that will improve the coordination of transportation services and non-emergency medical transportation services. | Competitive |
| Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) for Transit Buses Demonstration and Automated Transit Bus Maintenance and Yard Operations Demonstration Program | Part of FTA’s Bus Automation Research program, the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) for Transit Buses Demonstration and Automated Transit Bus Maintenance and Yard Operations Demonstration program provides funding to help improve transit bus safety and efficiency, including in bus yards. | Competitive |
| Accelerating Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems Program | The Accelerating Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems Program, created as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law aims to improve how transit agencies deliver capital construction projects. The ADCMS program will fund demonstrations to accelerate the adoption of field-tested digital platforms to reduce costs and improve the delivery of transit infrastructure projects. Digital systems for construction management provide a technology solution for workers throughout the infrastructure project, enabling them to perform tasks faster, more safely, smarter, and more accurately. | Competitive |
| Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending | Community Project Funding (CPF) is Congressionally directed spending. All projects were specifically allocated funding in the FY22 Consolidated Appropriations Act and are for the projects listed in the Joint Explanatory Statement (JES). | Competitive |
| Transit Worker and Rider Safety Best Practices Research Project | Provides funding to support a research project to help the transit industry mitigate transit worker and rider assaults. | Competitive |