Notice of Funding: Tribal Transit Program Grant

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced a FY 2024 Public Transportation on Indian Reservations (Tribal Transit) Program (TTP) grant. The funds will be awarded competitively for any purpose eligible under FTA’s Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program, including planning, capital, and operating assistance for tribal public transit services in rural areas.

Opportunity ID: FTA-2024-012-TPM-TRTR

Eligible applicants include:

• Federally recognized Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages, groups, or communities as identified by the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
• The list of Federally Recognized tribes can be found here.

Additional Applicant Eligibility Requirements:

• To be eligible, applicants must have sufficient legal, financial, and technical capabilities to receive and administer Federal funds under this program.
• Additionally, applicants must provide transit service in a rural area with a population of less than 50,000.
  • A service area can include some portions of urban areas (as identified in the 2020 census), so long as rural areas are also served.
  • For purposes of this funding opportunity, eligible service areas are rural areas as defined under the 2020 census.
  • Please visit this webpage for information and resources about rural areas defined under the 2020 census, including an interactive map.

Eligible Projects:

• Any purpose eligible under FTA’s Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program, 49 U.S.C. 5311, including public transportation planning, capital, or operating expenses.

Additional Project Eligibility Information:

• Public transportation includes regular, continuing shared-ride surface transportation services open to the public or open to a segment of the public defined by age, disability, or low income.
• Specific types of projects include: 
  • capital investment for start-ups, replacement, or expansion needs; 
  • operating assistance; and 
  • planning projects up to $50,000.
• Applications that include requests for more than one project type must identify the specific funds requested for each project type (planning, capital, or operating).
• Indian tribes applying for capital replacement or expansion must describe the source of operating funds that will be available to support existing or expanded transit services.

The TTP supports FTA’s strategic goals through investments that enhance safety, review our transit systems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the public transportation sector, improve equity, and connect communities.

Applicants should register on the Grants.gov website well before the application deadline. Each applicant is required to be registered in SAM before submitting an application, provide a valid unique entity identifier in its application, and continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times when the applicant is applying for a grant or has an active grant from a Federal Agency.

Deadline: November 13, 2024, 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time via electronic submission to https://www.Grants.gov

Maximum Cap on Planning Grant Awards: $50,000

Minimum Cap on Planning Grant Awards: no minimum

Grantor Contact Information: Elan Flippin-Jones; (202) 366-3800; tribaltransit@dot.gov  

Funding History:

• In FY 2023, the program received applications for 41 eligible projects requesting a total of $19 million.
• 22 projects were funded to 22 tribes at a total of $9.9 million.
• The funding awarded ranged from $25,000 to over $1,000,000.

For additional information on how to apply, please see the grant instructions available at: https://www.transit.dot.gov/notices-funding/fy-2024-notice-funding-opportunity-public-transportation-indian-reservations

Related Links:

• Notice of Funding Opportunity
• Federal Register Notice
• Opportunity Announcement PDF
• Tribal Transit Competitive Program Related Resources
• Public Transportation on Indian Reservations Program

 

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