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FY20 Accelerating Innovative Mobility (AIM) Project Selections

State Project Sponsor Project Description Funding Amount CA Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA METRO) will receive funding to work with researchers and technology...

Real-Time Transit Infrastructure and Rolling Stock Condition Assessment Research and Demonstration Program

Rolling Stock Station.

 

What's New

On November 30, 2020, FTA announced $1.37 million in competitive grant funds to six projects in six states for the Real-Time Transit Infrastructure and Rolling Stock Condition Assessment Demonstration Program to support infrastructure innovation and safety in the transit industry. View the project selections.

Overview

FTA’s Public Transportation Innovation Program (49 U.S.C. § 5312), authorizes FTA to fund research, development, demonstrations, and deployment projects to improve public transportation. The Real-Time Transit Infrastructure and Rolling Stock Condition Assessment Demonstration Program is a competitive demonstration opportunity under FTA's research emphasis area of infrastructure. This priority area supports the U.S. Department of Transportation's Infrastructure strategic goal, as well as the strategic objective of life cycle and preventive maintenance for asset management planning and innovative maintenance strategies to keep transit assets in a state of good repair. This demonstration program will fund innovative approaches to eliminate or mitigate infrastructure deficiencies in public transportation using innovative technologies and designs.

Objectives

The Real-Time Transit Infrastructure and Rolling Stock Condition Assessment Program is intended to help transit agencies:

  • Explore advanced cutting-edge technologies that can provide real-time condition assessment of transit capital and facilities
  • Allow a more effective way for transit agencies to assess, detect, monitor and track deficiencies and defects related to infrastructure and rolling stock
  • Evaluate the cost-effectiveness and the practicality of proposed state-of-the art solutions

Eligible Projects

The Real-Time Transit Infrastructure and Rolling Stock Condition Assessment program funds cooperative agreements to engage in demonstrations to assess and identify infrastructure deficiencies in public transportation rolling stock via innovative technologies to keep public transit assets in a state of good repair.

This program is a research demonstration program and not a capital procurement program. The project proposals must include a research/synthesis phase, a development phase, and a demonstration phase. All phases are critical to project selection.

To ensure proposed demonstration projects address the needs of transit agencies, FTA requires that applicants identify partnerships with at least one transit agency. FTA will assess the strength of those partnerships as part of its evaluation of applications.

Eligible Recipients

Lead applicants must be one of the listed entities prescribed below. Additionally, project partners and subrecipients under this program may include, but are not limited to:

  • Public transportation systems
  • Private for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, including technology system suppliers and bus manufacturers
  • Operators of transportation, such as employee shuttle services, airport connector services, or university transportation systems
  • State or local government entities
  • Other organizations, such as consultants, research consortia or not-for-profit industry organizations, and institutions of higher education

Statutory References

FTA’s Public Transportation Innovation Program (49 U.S.C. 5312).

Allocation of Funding

Real-Time Transit Infrastructure and Rolling Stock Condition Assessment Program projects are funded under FTA’s Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment Program (49 U.S.C. § 5312). 

Match

The federal share of project costs under this program is limited to 80 percent. Proposers may seek a lower federal contribution. The applicant must provide the local share of the net project cost in cash, or in-kind, and must document in its application the source of the local match. 

Accelerating Innovative Mobility

What's New

Overview

FTA’s Accelerating Innovative Mobility (AIM) Initiative highlights FTA’s commitment to support and advance innovation in the transit industry. AIM will drive innovation by promoting forward-thinking approaches to improve transit financing, planning, system design and service. The AIM Initiative also supports innovative approaches to advance strategies that promote accessibility, including equitable and equivalent accessibility for all travelers.

The goals of AIM are to:

  • Identify, test, and prove out new approaches, technologies and service models
  • Promote the most promising mobility innovations that can be implemented more broadly through FTA’s capital programs
  • Establish a national network of transit stakeholders that are incorporating innovative approaches and business models to improve mobility

The primary objectives of AIM are to:

  • Foster innovative transit technologies, practices and solutions that advance the state of practice for public transportation in the U.S.
  • Leverage private sector investments in mobility for the benefit of transit
  • Ensure innovative technologies and practices permit interoperability across systems and modes
  • Share results of innovative mobility solutions with the transit industry and stakeholders

Eligible Activities

Eligible activities include all activities leading to the development and testing of innovative mobility, such as planning and developing business models, obtaining equipment and service, acquiring or developing software and hardware interfaces to implement the project, operating or implementing the new service model, and evaluating project results.

Eligible Recipients

Eligible recipients include providers of public transportation, including public transportation agencies, state/local government DOTs, and federally recognized Indian tribes. Eligible applicants may identify one or more strategic project partner(s) with a substantial interest and involvement in the project.

Eligible project partners under the AIM Initiative include, but are not limited to:

  • Private for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, including shared-use mobility providers, technology system suppliers and integrators, automated vehicle technology providers, property managers and developers, and others
  • Private operators of transportation services, such as employee shuttle services, airport connector services, university transportation systems, or parking and tolling or airports authorities
  • Other operators of public transportation, including public transportation agencies, State/local government DOTs, and Federally recognized Indian tribes
  • Bus or vehicle manufacturers or suppliers
  • Banking or financial institutions
  • State or local government entities, including multi-jurisdictional partnerships, and organizations, such as a Metropolitan Planning Organization
  • Other organizations including research consortia or not-for-profit industry organizations, institutions of higher education, and other

Statutory Reference

Public Transportation Innovation (49 U.S.C. § 5312)

Allocation of Funding

The AIM projects are funded under FTA’s Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment program authority.

Match

The federal share of project costs under this program is limited to 80 percent. Proposers may seek a lower federal contribution. The applicant must provide the local share of the net project cost in cash, or in-kind, and must document in its application the source of the local match. 

Selected Projects

FTA selected 25 projects in 24 states and one territory to receive a share of approximately $14 million in funding through the AIM initiative to support mobility and innovation in the transit industry. View the project selections.

Bus Safety and Accessibility Research Program

A bus.

What's New

  • On November 18, 2024, FTA announced the availability of $10 million in Fiscal Year 2025 competitive grant funding for organizations to research designs and create prototypes that will make buses safer for drivers and riders.
    • FTA hosted a webinar on December 3, 2024 at 2:30 PM ET to discuss the requirements of the funding opportunity and how to apply. The presentation and a recording of the webinar are available.
  • On September 10, 2024, FTA hosted a virtual public roundtable to discuss safety and elements of transit bus design that impact operator visibility. FTA facilitated a discussion among manufacturers, transit agencies, labor unions, and transit industry stakeholders on what efforts are needed to improve bus operator visibility through bus safety design improvements. Industry experts discussed vehicle design and potential safety enhancements.
  • The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) recently published TCRP Research Report 249: Bus Operator Barrier Design Guidelines and Considerations that provides information and guidance for North American public transportation agencies, standards committees, and government and non-government policymaking organizations on designing, procuring, and installing bus operator barriers to prioritize the health and safety of essential operators and the public they serve.

Overview

In keeping with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s focus on improving safety in the nation’s transportation systems, FTA’s Bus Safety and Accessibility Program supports the development of standard designs and prototypes that will make existing and new buses safer for operators, riders and vulnerable road users, as well as more accessible for passengers.

FTA’s top priority remains to enhance the safety of America’s public transportation systems. Projects solicited by this funding opportunity must address bus operator health and safety; transit vehicle safety, and accessibility; and provide a foundation for transformative bus systems and designs that enhance safety.

Objectives

Project objectives include focusing on developing driver safety systems and passenger safety systems, including:

  1. Researching standard bus designs, innovations, and technologies to make existing and new buses safer for their operator and vulnerable road users, and safer and more accessible for their passengers. 
  2. Producing a prototype that is available as a retrofit on existing buses and for installation in new buses.

Eligible Projects

The strategic goal for this program is to make existing and new buses safer for their operators and vulnerable road users, and safer and more accessible for their passengers. The program objectives include research on bus designs, innovations, and technologies, as well as production of a prototype that is available through a retrofit on existing buses and for installation in new buses. The program’s key focus areas are: 

  • Driver Safety Systems – Changes made to the transit vehicle and technology upgrades that protect the operator and enhance the safety of those outside of the vehicle including vulnerable road users.
  • Passenger Safety Systems – Changes made to the transit vehicle and technology upgrades that protect and increase accessibility of the passengers.

All applicants will also be expected to produce results that follow three major principles. These principles represent the values on which FTA will judge whether objectives have been met. 

  • Partnerships
    • Recipients will collaborate across multiple industry sectors including all or some of these priority groups:
      • Transit Vehicle Manufacturers
      • Transit Agencies
      • Transit Labor Unions
      • Disability Organizations
      • Transit riders
      • Domestic and International Research Groups
      • Component Manufacturers 
  • Widely Implementable
    • Proposals are encouraged to be innovative but must consider risks to implementation and interoperability to ensure nationwide relevancy and adoption. Proposals should be able to be adopted quickly, on a wide scale.
    • Deliverables should be applicable to current and new 35- and 40-ft or articulated bus models that have passed Altoona testing, comply with all other applicable Federal requirements, and are manufactured by companies eligible to compete for FTA-funded contracts.
  • Economic vitality
    • Recipients will support the U.S. industrial base by complying with Buy America. Recognizing Executive Order 14005, “Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers” (86 FR 7475), proposed projects must support economic vitality at the national and regional level, including advancing domestic industry and promoting domestic development of intellectual property.

Applicants must note how they will incorporate the key focus areas, meet program objectives, and follow program principles. Applications should include performance standards and measures for ensuring the success of each key focus area with a specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound task plan. These measures should show minimum performance specifications and a quality assurance surveillance plan to ensure quality. Applicants must show a detailed understanding of the needs and opportunities of this program.

Eligible Recipients

Lead applicants must be one of the listed entities prescribed below. Additionally, project partners and subrecipients under this program may include, but are not limited to:

  • Departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the federal government, including federal laboratories;
  • State and local governmental entities, including multi-jurisdictional partnerships, and organizations such as metropolitan planning organizations;
  • Providers of public transportation;
  • Private for-profit or not-for-profit organizations incorporated in a jurisdiction of the United States; and
  • Institutions of higher education and technical and community colleges.

Statutory References

Public Transportation Innovation (49 U.S.C. § 5312)

Match

The federal share of project costs under this program is limited to 80 percent. Proposers may seek a lower federal contribution. The applicant must provide the non-federal share of the net project cost in cash, or in-kind, and must document in its application the source of the match.

Allocation of Funding

Bus Operator Compartment Program projects are funded under FTA’s Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment Program (49 U.S.C. § 5312).

Safety Research and Demonstration Program

CTA Track Work.

What's New

  • On June 22, 2023, FTA posted the LRV Bumper Safety Technology Deployment report that summarizes findings from design, build and test of a prototype LRV end enclosure, or bumper, as a retrofit to existing LRV operated in the US to reduce: 1) potential for injuries to automobile occupants, 2) damage to the LRV, and 3) costs to operators from crashes.
  • On October 8, 2020, FTA announced $7.5 million in competitive grant funds to 10 projects in nine states for the Safety Research and Demonstration Program to support safety and innovation in the transit industry. View the project selections.

Overview

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 goals of FTA’s safety research are to:

  • Improve public safety by reducing transit-related injuries, fatalities, safety events, and enhance system reliability by testing promising new technologies, designs and practices.
  • Assess ways to promote better public transit safety cultures through the adoption of voluntary safety standards and best-practices.

Objectives

The primary objectives of the SRD Program are to assist rail transit agencies to:

  • Explore advanced technologies, designs and/or practices to mitigate and prevent safety hazards on rail transit systems; and
  • Evaluate cost-effectiveness and practicability of potential solutions.

Eligible Activities

The SRD program seeks to fund cooperative agreements to engage in demonstrations that will improve the operational safety of rail transit services in the U.S. FTA is particularly interested in proposals to prevent and mitigate suicide and trespassing hazards on rail transit systems, and proposals to improve the operational safety of shared corridor fixed guideway systems, including highway-rail grade crossing safety.

The SRD Program is a research demonstration program and not a capital procurement program. The project proposals must include a research/synthesis phase, development phase and a demonstration phase.  All phases are critical to project selection.

Eligible Recipients

Applicants for the SRD program must be existing FTA grant recipients. An application must clearly identify the eligible lead applicant and all project partners on the team. Eligible project partners and sub-recipients may include, but are not limited to:

  • Public transportation systems
  • Private for-profit and nonprofit organizations, including technology system suppliers and bus manufacturers
  • Operators of transportation, such as employee shuttle services or airport connector services or university transportation systems
  • State or local government entities
  • Other organizations that may contribute to the success of the project team including consultants, research consortia or nonprofit industry organizations, and institutions of higher education

Statutory References

Public Transportation Innovation (49 U.S.C. § 5312)

Allocation of Funding

Safety Research and Demonstration Program projects are funded annually under FTA’s Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment Program (49 U.S.C. § 5312).

Match

The federal share of project costs under this program is limited to 80 percent. Proposers may seek a lower federal contribution. The applicant must provide the local share of the net project cost in cash, or in-kind, and must document in its application the source of the local match. 

Resources

In calendar 2022-23, FTA published the following reports under the Safety Research and Demonstration Program:

Selected Projects

2019
2016
2015

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