FTA to Award TOD Pilot Program Grants

The Federal Transit Administration is accepting applications for a pilot program of transit-oriented planning grants.

The agency said it will provide $13 million in the grants during the current federal fiscal year. Applications are being accepted through July 25, 2022.

In a news release FTA said the grants provide “funding to communities to integrate land use and transportation planning in new fixed guideway and core capacity transit project corridors.”

Applicants must show how a grant will be used to improve economic development and ridership potential, 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 FTA said that to ensure that planning work “reflects the needs and aspirations of the local community and results in concrete, specific deliverables and outcomes,” transit project sponsors must partner with entities with land use planning authority in the project corridor. Only one application per transit capital project corridor may be submitted.

FTA has $20B in Grant Funding Available

The Federal Transit Administration said it will award more than $20 billion in grants in federal fiscal year 2022.

The agency said that was an increase of 58 percent over FY 2021 due to an infusion of funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The funding will be distributed through 30 programs. The funding was approved last month by Congress in the FY 2022 appropriations bill.

In a news release FTA said the funding by program works to the following.

• $6.9 billion for the Urbanized Area Formula Program, which supports transit agencies in large cities and suburbs, 29 percent more than the FY2021 funding level.

• $4.1 billion for the State of Good Repair Formula Program, 52 percent more than the FY2021 funding level.

• $893 million for Rural Area Formula grants, which support transit programs in rural areas, representing 23 percent more than the FY2021 levels.

• $422 million for the Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities program, representing 44 percent more than the FY2021 level.

• $45 million to support to transit programs run by tribal governments through formula and competitive grants, representing 25 percent more than the FY2021 funding level.

• $49 million for State Safety Oversight, representing 69 percent more than FY2021 funding level.

FTA Announces $10M Grant Program

The Federal Transit Authority this week said it has available $10 million in competitive grant funding under its Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning. 

Grants will be awarded in support of comprehensive planning efforts that help connect communities, improve access to public transportation and affordable housing, and combat climate change, advance environmental justice and promote equitable delivery of benefits to underserved communities, FTA said in a news release.

Priority will be given to projects that will help improve air quality in nonattainment and maintenance areas for certain criteria pollutants under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and promote equitable delivery of benefits and services to underserved communities. 

This could include comprehensive planning studies around station areas for new fixed guideway projects, such as light rail, heavy rail, commuter rail, or bus rapid transit systems that have a designated right-of-way.

FTA Awards Grant for South Shore Project

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District has been awarded a $49.4 million federal grant to help pay to double track the South Shore Commuter line.

The grant came from the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grants program.

It was one of seven grants totaling $544.3 million that were awarded last week by the agency.

The CIG program provides funding for major transit infrastructure capital investments nationwide that help improve transit access.

The NICTD grant will be used on a project to install a second track for 26.6 miles between Gary and Michigan City, Indiana.

The project is in the engineering phase of the CIG program.

FTA Offering Grants, Relaxing Some Rules

The Federal Transit Administration is providing access to grant funding and providing relief from certain federal regulations and administrative rules.

The agency said it will extend access to emergency relief funding for operations and allow more time for transit agencies to meet regulatory requirements for the Public Transportation Agency  Safety Plan, Public Transportation Safety Certification Training Program regulations, as well as several reporting and compliance reviews.

The FTA has extended eligibility for formula funding under the Emergency Relief Program to be used for paying operating expenses.

In a news release, FTA officials said funding may now cover operating expenses related to COVID-19 recovery through Jan. 20, 2022, at 100 percent federal share.

In addition, the FRA issued two notices of enforcement discretion.

These include advising FTA grantees that it will not take enforcement action for the PTASP regulation until July 21, 2021; and advising FTA grantees that it will not take enforcement action against grantees subject to the PTSCTP regulation training requirements until Aug. 21, 2022.

FTA Seeks Pilot Program Participants

The Federal Transit Administration is seeking participants in a pilot program for expediting transit capital projects.

Authorized under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, the pilot program includes a streamlined federal review process to help deliver projects more quickly, FTA officials said in a news release.

Eligible projects must be public-private partnerships, be operated and maintained by employees of an existing public transit provider, and have a federal share not exceeding 25 percent of the project’s total cost.

The deadline for submitting expressions of interest is Nov. 13.

FTA plans to work with the selected project sponsors to define the steps a transit agency must compete before a construction grant is awarded. Congress has appropriated $25 million for the program.

The FTA said it is particularly interested in projects that consider value capture techniques as part of their project financing.

Value capture strategies are public financing tools that help recover a share of value that transit creates. This could include tax-increment financing, special assessments or joint development.

Transit Grants Slow to be Disbursed

Although the Federal Transit Administration has distributed about $25 million of an available $1.4 billion in grants, the agency’s failure to distribute the remaining $1.38 billion is causing delays in construction plans of transit agencies.

The grant money was included in the federal fiscal year 2018 budget and is designated for transit-rail and bus projects.

The undistributed funds have been approved for 17 projects that involve building or expanding transit systems.

Many of those projects are ready for construction and are waiting for the FTA to release the funds.

Some of those projects have been pending for several years.

Among the projects awaiting the release of funds is the proposal double-tracking of the South Shore rail line in Northwest Indiana.

APTA Decries Proposed Grant Program Cuts

In a statement, the American Public Transportation Association was critical of plans by the Trump administration to end two grant programs that benefit public transit.

The administration’s fiscal year 2018 federal budget proposal seeks to end the Transportation Investment Generating Economy Recovery grants and to phase out the Capital Improvement Grants program.

“This budget proposal to eliminate critical public transportation infrastructure projects is inconsistent with addressing America’s critical transportation needs and helping America’s economy prosper,” said Richard White, APTA’s acting president and chief executive officer, in a news release. “These targeted cuts to public transit go directly against the president’s own calls for new infrastructure spending.”

An earlier “skinny budget” blueprint released by the White House had outlined the administration’s desire to slash both programs, but some public transportation officials had hoped that a backlash against those proposed cuts would change the administration’s mind.

APTA said that Congress has been annually funding the TIGER grant program “at significant levels.”

The proposed transit cuts would put 800,000 jobs at risk and a possible loss of $90 billion in economic output, APTA officials said, citing a recent economic analysis prepared for the association.

That analysis said the spending cuts would endanger $38 billion of already planned transit projects.

“We are extremely concerned with the administration’s proposal to phase out existing infrastructure programs that are putting people to work building projects that our communities need and support,” White said.

FTA Offering Transit Oriented Grants

The Federal Transition Administration is offering $20.5 million in competitive grants to support transit-oriented development projects.

Being provided by the agency’s Transit-Oriented Development Planning Pilot Program, the grants will be made for comprehensive planning in communities that are developing or implementing major new transportation projects.

Planning work must be associated with a transit project for which the community intends to seek funding through FTA’s Capital Investment Grant Program or that recently received funding through CIG.

“This funding opportunity will help communities plan development that creates jobs, encourages transit use, and gives residents convenient access to work, school, medical care, housing and other vital services,” said FTA Senior Adviser Carolyn Flowers. “Transit-oriented development helps ensure that the benefits of new transit lines extend throughout a community.”

The pilot program was created as part of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.