33018 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 136 / Monday, July 16, 2018 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

FTA Fiscal Year 2018 Apportionments, 

Allocations, Program Information and 

Guidance 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice provides priorities 

for programs in fiscal year (FY) 2018, 

announces the full-year apportionments 

and allocations for grant programs, 

provides contract authority, and 

describes plans for several competitive 

programs. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general information about this notice 

contact Kimberly Sledge, Director, 

Office of Transit Programs, at (202) 366– 

2053. Please contact the appropriate 

FTA Regional Office for any specific 

requests for information or technical 

assistance. FTA Regional Office contact 

information is available on FTA’s 

website: www.transit.dot.gov. An FTA 

headquarters contact for each major 

program area is included in the 

discussion of that program in the text of 

this notice. FTA recommends 

stakeholders subscribe on FTA’s website 

www.transit.dot.gov to receive email 

notifications when new information is 

available. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Overview 

II. FY 2018 Funding for FTA Programs 

A. Funding Based on the Transportation, 

Housing and Urban Development, and 

Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

2018 (Pub L. 115–141) 

B. Oversight Takedown 

C. FY 2018 Formula Apportionments: Data 

and Methodology 

III. FY 2018 Program Highlights 

A. Streamlining Activities 

1. Risk-Based Federal Financial and 

Milestone Progress Reporting and 

Review 

2. Real Estate Appraisal and Review 

Appraisal Submissions 

3. Updates to Triennial Review and State 

Management Reviews 

4. Online Dialogue on Definition of a 

‘‘Federal Project’’ 

5. Emergency Relief Docket 

6. Cancellation of Circulars 

B. Policy Priorities 

1. Safety 

2. Positive Train Control (PTC) 

3. Automation 

4. Value Capture 

5. Transit Asset Management Plans 

6. Bus Testing (49 U.S.C. 5318) 

C. FY 2018 Competitive Program Funding 

IV. FY 2018 Program-Specific Information 

A. Metropolitan Planning Program (49 

U.S.C. 5303 and 5305(d)) 

B. State Planning and Research Program 

(49 U.S.C. 5304 and 5305(e)) 

C. Urbanized Area Formula Program (49 

U.S.C. 5307) 

D. Fixed Guideway Capital Investment 

Grants Program (49 U.S.C. 5309) 

E. Formula Grants for the Enhanced 

Mobility of Seniors and Individuals With 

Disabilities Program (49 U.S.C. 5310) 

F. Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program 

(49 U.S.C. 5311) 

G. Rural Transportation Assistance 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5311(b)(3)) 

H. Appalachian Development Public 

Transportation Assistance Program (49 

U.S.C. 5311(c)(2)) 

I. Formula Grants for Public Transportation 

on Indian Reservations Program (49 

U.S.C. 5311(j)) 

J. Public Transportation Innovation (49 

U.S.C. 5312) 

K. Technical Assistance and Workforce 

Development (49 U.S.C. 5314) 

L. Public Transportation Emergency Relief 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5324) 

M. State Safety Oversight Formula Program 

(49 U.S.C. 5329) 

N. State of Good Repair Grants Program (49 

U.S.C. 5337) 

O. Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5339) 

P. Apportionments Based on Growing 

States and High-Density States Formula 

Factors (49 U.S.C. 5340) 

Q. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 

Authority Grants 

V. FTA Policy and Procedures for FY 2018 

Grants 

A. Automatic Pre-Award Authority to 

Incur Project Costs 

B. Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) Policy 

C. FY 2018 Annual List of Certifications 

and Assurances 

D. Civil Rights Requirements 

E. Consolidated Planning Grants 

F. Grant Application Procedures 

G. Grant Management 

I. Overview 

This document contains important 

information about FTA programs, 

statutes (49 U.S.C. 5301, et seq.) and 

policy priorities. In addition, this 

document provides notice to 

stakeholders that FTA is apportioning 

the full Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 

authorized contract authority through 

September 30, 2018 for FTA formula 

and competitive programs pursuant to 

Division L-Transportation, Housing and 

Urban Development, and Related 

Agencies Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 

115–141). 

For each FTA program, FTA has 

provided information on the FY 2018 

authorized funding levels, the basis for 

apportionment or allocation of funds, 

requirements specific to the program, 

the period of availability of funds, and 

other program information. A separate 

section provides information on preaward authority as well as other 

requirements and guidance applicable 

to FTA programs and grant 

administration. Finally, the notice 

includes a reference to tables on FTA’s 

website that show new contract 

authority apportioned and made 

available through September 30, 2018. 

Information in this document 

includes references to the existing FTA 

program guidance and circulars. Some 

information in FTA’s guidance 

documents and circulars may have been 

superseded by new provisions in the 

Fixing America’s Surface Transportation 

(FAST) Act, but these guidance 

documents and circulars remain a 

resource for program management in 

most areas. FTA intends to revise the 

guidance and circulars, as appropriate. 

II. FY 2018 Funding for FTA Programs 

A. Funding Based on Division 

L-Transportation, Housing and Urban 

Development, and Related Agencies 

Appropriations Act, 2018 

Division L-Transportation, Housing 

and Urban Development, and Related 

Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018 

(Pub. L. 115–141) (‘‘Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018’’) makes 

funding available through September 

30, 2018. Current funding availability 

for each program is identified in section 

IV of this notice and in Table 1 located 

on FTA’s FY 2018 Apportionment web 

page: www.transit.dot.gov/funding/ 

apportionments. 

B. Oversight Takedown 

49 U.S.C. 5338(f) (all subsequent 

statutory references are to title 49, 

United States Code) provides for the 

following oversight takedowns of FTA 

programs: 0.5 percent of Metropolitan 

and Statewide Planning funds, 0.75 

percent of Urbanized Area Formula 

Grant funds, 1 percent of Fixed 

Guideway Capital Investment Grants 

funds, 0.5 percent of Formula Grants for 

the Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and 

Individuals with Disabilities funds, 0.5 

percent of Formula Grants for Rural 

Areas funds, 1 percent of State of Good 

Repair Formula Grants funds, 0.75 

percent for Grants for Buses and Bus 

Facilities funds, and 1 percent of Capital 

and Preventive Maintenance Projects for 

grants to the Washington Metropolitan 

Area Transit Authority. The funds are 

used to provide necessary oversight 

activities, such as oversight of the 

construction of any major capital project 

receiving Federal transit assistance; to 

conduct State Safety Oversight, drug 

and alcohol, civil rights, procurement 

systems, management, planning 

certification, and financial management 


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reviews and audits; evaluations and 

analyses of grantee-specific problems 

and issues; for salaries and benefits of 

FTA employees performing certain 

oversight activities; and to generally 

provide technical assistance and correct 

deficiencies identified in compliance 

reviews and audits. 

C. FY 2018 Formula Apportionments: 

Data and Methodology 

1. Apportionment Tables 

FTA publishes apportionment tables 

on its website for each program that 

reflect the funding level in the full-year 

appropriations act less oversight takedowns, as applicable. Tables displaying 

the funds available to eligible states, 

tribes, and urbanized areas have been 

posted to http://www.transit.dot.gov/ 

funding/apportionments. This website 

contains a page listing the 

apportionment and allocation tables for 

FY 2018, links to prior year formula 

apportionment notices and tables, and 

the National Transit Database (NTD) and 

Census data used to calculate the FY 

2018 apportionments. 

2. National Transit Database (NTD) and 

Census Data Used in the FY 2018 

Apportionments 

Consistent with past practices, the 

calculations for Sections 5307, 5311, 

including 5311(j) (Tribal Transit), 5329, 

5337, and 5339 rely on the most-recent 

transit service data reported to the NTD, 

which for FY 2018 is the 2016 report 

year. In some cases, where an 

apportionment is based on the age of the 

system, the age is calculated as of 

September 30, 2017, the last day before 

FY 2018 began. Recipients or 

beneficiaries of either Section 5307 or 

5311 funds are required to report to the 

NTD. Additionally, several transit 

operators report to the FTA’s NTD on a 

voluntary basis. For the 2016 report 

year, the NTD includes data from 953 

reporters in urbanized areas, 925 of 

which reported operating transit service. 

The NTD also includes data from 1,478 

providers of rural transit service, which 

includes 126 Indian Tribes providing 

transit service. 

The 2010 Census data is used to 

determine population and population 

density for Sections 5303, 5305, 5307 

and 5339 as well as rural population 

and rural land area for the 5311 

program. The formulas for Sections 

5307, 5311, and 5311(j) include tiers 

where funding is allocated based on the 

number of persons living in poverty, 

and the Section 5310 formula program 

allocates funding based on the 

population of older adults and people 

with disabilities. The Census Bureau no 

longer publishes decennial census data 

on persons living in poverty and 

persons with disabilities. As a result, 

since FY 2013, FTA has used the data 

for these populations available via the 

Census’ American Community Survey 

(ACS). The NTD and Census data that 

FTA used to calculate the 

apportionments associated with this 

notice can be found on FTA’s website: 

www.transit.dot.gov/funding/ 

apportionments. 

The FY 2018 apportionments use data 

on low-income persons, persons with 

disabilities, and older adults from the 

2011–2015 ACS five-year data set, 

which was published in December 2016. 

This data represents the most recent 

five-year ACS estimates that are 

available as of October 1 for the year 

being apportioned. As was the case in 

prior years, data on low-income persons 

comes from ACS Table B17024, ‘‘Age by 

Ratio of Income to Poverty in the Last 

Twelve Months,’’ and data on people 

with disabilities under 65 years old 

comes from ACS Table S1810, 

‘‘Disability Characteristics.’’ Data on 

older adults (over 65 years old) comes 

from ACS Table B01001, ‘‘Sex by Age.’’ 

III. FY 2018 Program Highlights and 

Changes 

A. Streamlining Activities 

This past year FTA has reviewed its 

existing regulations and guidance and 

other agency actions to evaluate their 

continued necessity and determine 

whether they are crafted effectively to 

solve current problems. FTA’s review 

was based on the principle that there 

should be no more requirements than 

necessary, and those requirements 

should be straightforward, clear, and 

designed to minimize burdens. Once 

issued, these requirements should be 

reviewed periodically and revised to 

ensure that they continue to meet the 

needs for which they originally were 

designed, remain cost-effective, and 

remain cost-justified. As a part of this 

review, FTA also considered input from 

external stakeholders that was provided 

in response to the Department’s Notice 

of Review of Policy, Guidance and 

Regulation (82 FR 26734 (June 8, 2017)) 

and Notification of Regulatory Review 

(82 FR 45750 (Oct. 2, 2017)). Because of 

these reviews and external input, FTA 

has implemented the following: 

1. Risk-Based Federal Financial and 

Milestone Progress Reporting and 

Review 

Beginning on October 1, 2017, FTA 

implemented a risk-based policy on 

how frequently recipients must submit 

milestone progress reports (MPRs) and 

Federal Financial Reports (FFRs) for 

awarded grants. Under the new policy, 

all grants of $2 million or less that are 

awarded to recipients located in 

urbanized areas over 200,000 in 

population should be reported annually 

rather than quarterly unless a specific 

risk is identified for that grant. FTA has 

identified the awards that meet this 

criterion and has switched them from a 

quarterly to an annual reporting cycle. 

As FTA reviews new draft applications 

in FY 2018, we will assign a quarterly 

or an annual reporting cycle for the 

award based on this criterion. This 

policy change will reduce the grant 

reporting burden by approximately 

13,000 reports for FTA recipients while 

allowing FTA to prioritize reviewing 

MPRs and FFRs for higher risk grants. 

2. Real Estate Appraisal and Review 

Appraisal Submissions 

All real property transactions must be 

undertaken in accordance with the 

Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real 

Property Acquisition Policies Act of 

1970, as amended (Uniform Act or 

URA), 42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq., and 49 

CFR part 24, the implementing 

regulation. This includes requirements 

for appraisals and review appraisals as 

described in FTA 5010.1E Award 

Management Requirements. 

Additionally, Circular 5010.1E requires 

recipients to provide appraisals and 

review appraisals to FTA for review and 

concurrence for acquisitions and 

dispositions or property condemnation 

of more than $500,000, or in-kind 

contributions and land exchanges of any 

value before federal assistance is 

expended, or when the value is used as 

non-federal share. To reduce the burden 

on FTA recipients, FTA has increased 

the threshold to $1,000,000 for which 

appraisals and review appraisals for 

acquisition, disposition or property 

condemnations must be submitted to 

FTA for review. In-kind contributions 

and land exchanges of any value must 

still be submitted to FTA for review and 

concurrence. This change will reduce 

required submissions to FTA by 20 

percent, saving about 50 total weeks of 

review time. FTA will make page-edits 

to Circular 5010.1E circular subsequent 

to this notice to document this change. 

FTA notes that all appraisals regardless 

of value must be compliant with 49 CFR 

24.103. FTA may choose to review any 

appraisal or review appraisal used in an 

FTA assisted award when 

circumstances warrant or as part of a 

periodic review. The recipient must 

maintain documentation that supports 

valuation decisions in the parcel files. 


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3. Updates to Triennial Review and 

State Management Reviews 

For FY 2018, FTA has made updates 

and process changes to its Triennial and 

State Management Reviews. These 

changes are based on feedback received 

from our recipients, review contractors, 

and colleagues and are also part of 

FTA’s ongoing commitment to improve 

consistency and transparency in its 

oversight reviews. We anticipate that 

these changes will result in a more 

efficient review process that provides 

our recipients with a clearer 

understanding of what is expected 

during a Triennial or State Management 

Review, how FTA reviewers determine 

compliance, and why a finding of 

deficiency is made. 

The Grantee Information Request 

(GIR) package is now called the 

Recipient Information Request (RIR) 

package. The FTA has redesigned the 

RIR to significantly reduce the level of 

effort required for completion by the 

recipient. The updated RIR package 

consists of: 

Recipient Profile Information: Basic 

information about the recipient that 

FTA uses to better understand the 

recipient’s institutional and operating 

structure, and to help determine 

applicability of oversight requirements. 

Recipient Information Request: A list 

of documents and answers to specific 

questions that the FTA needs to begin 

assessing a recipient’s compliance with 

the basic requirements identified in the 

Comprehensive Review Guide. The FTA 

is moving away from the narrative 

responses required in previous years. 

Once FTA’s contractors begin reviewing 

the requested documentation, the 

recipient may be asked to provide 

answers to additional targeted questions 

on a case-by-case basis. 

Changes to the Comprehensive 

Review Guide: 

The FTA undertook a ‘‘back to basics’’ 

exercise with the Triennial and State 

Management Review Guide, known as 

the Comprehensive Review Guide, to 

identify the minimum compliance 

requirements and the optimal methods 

for assessing compliance. The key to 

this effort was ensuring that all 

questions were directly related to 

specific, citable, written requirements. 

This new guide clearly articulates what 

is expected of recipients and exactly 

how FTA will determine compliance. 

The guide can be accessed at https://

www.transit.dot.gov/oversight-policyareas/fy18-comprehensive-review-guide. 

4. Online Dialogue on Definition of 

Federal Project 

The current definition of a ‘‘Federal’’ 

project is defined in the FAST Act, 

Public Law 114–94 as, ‘‘any highway 

project, public transportation capital 

project, or multimodal project that, if 

implemented as proposed by the project 

sponsor, would require approval by any 

operating administration or secretarial 

office within the Department of 

Transportation.’’ The FTA is now 

examining how it defines ‘‘Federal’’ 

project and the effects of that definition 

on project implementation. To learn 

more, the FTA is conducting an online 

dialogue to help identify potential 

opportunities to expedite investments in 

transit infrastructure through the 

exclusion of certain projects or project 

elements from potentially burdensome 

Federal requirements. FTA intends to 

review the relevant thresholds for 

defining whether a project or project 

element qualifies as federally funded, 

which determines whether it is subject 

to various Federal requirements, 

reviews, and oversight. 

Through this online dialogue, the 

FTA will pose a series of questions and 

invite States, transit agencies, transit 

operators, and other stakeholders to 

submit comments and responses on this 

topic. 

The online dialogue will be open 

through August 15, 2018. FTA will 

provide a link to the online dialogue 

through email, social media, and its 

website. 

5. Emergency Relief Docket 

On February 2, 2018 FTA announced 

the establishment of an Emergency 

Relief Docket for calendar year 2018. 

See https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR2018-02-02/pdf/2018-02083.pdf for 

more information. After an emergency 

or major disaster, if FTA requirements 

impede a grantee or subgrantee’s ability 

to respond to the emergency or major 

disaster, a grantee or subgrantee may 

submit a request for temporary relief 

from FTA administrative and statutory 

requirements. A grantee or subgrantee 

seeking relief must submit a petition for 

waiver of FTA requirements at 

www.regulations.gov for posting in the 

docket (FTA–2018–0001). For 

additional information on the 

Emergency Relief Docket, please contact 

the appropriate FTA Regional Office. 

6. Cancellation of Circulars 

As part of FTA’s ongoing review of 

requirements, FTA has identified 

several circulars that should be 

cancelled. Information in these circulars 

is either no longer applicable or found 

in other guidance documents. 

Circular No. Circular name 

2710.6 ................................................................ Section 15 Accounting and Reporting Release Number 1. 

2710.7 ................................................................ Section 15 Accounting and Reporting Release Number 2. 

4715.1A .............................................................. Human Resource Programs (Section 20) Application and Project Management Guidelines. 

7008.1A .............................................................. Financial Capacity Policy. 

7020.1 ................................................................ Cross-Border Leasing Guidelines. 

9045.1 ................................................................ New Freedom Program Guidance and Application Instructions. 

9050.1 ................................................................ The Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) Program Guidance and Application Instructions. 

Under the Administrative Procedure 

Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553(b)), an agency 

may waive the normal notice and 

comment procedure if it finds, for good 

cause, that it would be impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest. Additionally, 5 U.S.C. 553(d) 

provides that an agency may waive the 

30-day delayed effective date upon 

finding of good cause. 

Circulars 2710.6 and 2710.7 are 

interpretations of the uniform system of 

accounts and records and reporting 

system required by Section 15 of the 

Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 

(UMTA Act), as amended, that was 

replaced by the Uniform Systems of 

Accounts (USOA). FTA finds, for good 

cause, that notice and comment for 

cancelling this guidance is unnecessary 

because the USOA was subject to notice 

and comment at 81 FR 70260. Further, 

the delayed effective date is 

unnecessary because the cancellation 

was already made effective by the 

adoption of the USOA. 

Circular 4715.1A provides guidance 

on applying for Federal financial 

assistance and managing projects 

awarded under Section 20 of the UMTA 

Act, which was codified under the 

FAST Act at 49 U.S.C. 5314. FTA is 


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cancelling this circular because human 

resource grants are now covered under 

Circular 6100.1E, Research, Technical 

Assistance, and Training Programs: 

Application Instructions and Program 

Management Guidelines, which was 

published in the Federal Register (78 

FR 47514) on August 13, 2014 with a 

request for public comment. FTA finds, 

for good cause, that notice and comment 

for cancelling this circular is 

unnecessary because it was replaced by 

guidance that was subject to notice and 

comment. Further, the delayed effective 

date is unnecessary because the 

cancellation was already made effective 

by the notice of availability of the 

Circular 6100.1E at 80 FR 19396. 

Circular 7008.1A defines the basis 

upon which FTA will make the 

determination of financial capacity of 

grantees required under 49 U.S.C. 5309 

and in reviewing Transportation 

Improvement Plans (TIPs). Additionally, 

the circular provides guidance for 

grantees making the required selfcertifications of financial capacity under 

49 U.S.C. 5307. FTA is cancelling this 

circular because these programs are now 

covered under Circular 9030.1E, 

Urbanized Area Formula Program: 

Program Guidance and Application 

Instructions, which was published on 

January 16, 2014 (79 FR 2930) and 

addressed comments received during 

the development of the circular. FTA 

finds, for good cause, that notice and 

comment for cancelling this circular is 

unnecessary because it was replaced by 

guidance that was subject to notice and 

comment. Further, the delayed effective 

date is unnecessary because the 

cancellation was already made effective 

by the publication of the notice of 

availability in the Federal Register. 

Circular 7020.1 sets forth cross-border 

leasing guidelines, which allow grantees 

to lease FTA-funded transit equipment 

from a foreign entity. However, the 

American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 

eliminated the tax benefits associated 

with such transactions, thereby 

rendering the vast majority of crossborder leases unprofitable. Thus, FTA is 

cancelling this circular, which is no 

longer utilized. FTA finds, for good 

cause, that notice and comment for 

cancelling this circular is unnecessary 

because it is outdated and unutilized. 

Similarly, the delayed effective date is 

unnecessary because the circular is no 

longer in use. 

Circulars 9045.1 and 9050.1 include 

guidance and application instructions 

for the New Freedom Program and the 

Job Access and Reverse Commute 

Program. Both programs were repealed 

by MAP–21. Therefore, FTA is 

cancelling the corresponding circulars. 

FTA finds, for good cause, that notice 

and comment for cancelling these 

circulars is unnecessary because these 

programs are no longer authorized. The 

statutory language does not require 

interpretation to carry out its intent, and 

comments cannot alter the guidance 

given the explicit mandate. Further, the 

delayed effective date is unnecessary 

because the cancelation of the circulars 

was already made effective by statute. 

Accordingly, FTA finds good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B) and (d)(3) to 

waive notice and opportunity for 

comment and the delayed effective date 

for all cancelled circulars. 

B. Policy Priorities 

As FTA implements its programs, it is 

particularly focused on the following 

policy priority areas. 

1. Safety 

Federal transit law requires States 

with rail transit systems operating 

within their jurisdictions to establish a 

State Safety Oversight (SSO) program 

that must be certified by the FTA by 

April 15, 2019 (49 U.S.C. 5329(e)). The 

FTA is prohibited by law (49 U.S.C. 

5329(e)(3)) from obligating any funds to 

any transit agency within a State that 

fails to obtain certification by the 

deadline. The FTA recommends that 

States submit their complete SSO 

program certification applications no 

later than September 30, 2018. For more 

information on the certification 

requirements, please visit the FTA 

website: www.transit.dot.gov/ 

regulations-and-guidance/safety/transitsafety-oversight-tso. 

2. Positive Train Control (PTC) 

On May 31, 2017, FTA and the 

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 

jointly announced the allocation of $197 

million for projects to install positive 

train control (PTC) systems on 

commuter railroads and other 

passenger-rail related facilities. As 

authorized under Section 3028 of the 

Fixing America’s Surface Transportation 

(FAST) Act, these funds are available to 

assist in financing the installation of 

PTC systems required under 49 U.S.C. 

20157. All funding allocated under this 

program has been obligated ahead of the 

September 30, 2018 statutory deadline. 

Costs associated with the installation of 

PTC are also eligible under FTA’s 

formula programs, including the 

Urbanized Area Formula Program (49 

U.S.C. 5307) and the State of Good 

Repair Program (49 U.S.C. 5337). 

3. Automation 

Transit automation is a critical area of 

emerging technology with the capability 

to enhance and transform public 

transportation. FTA is developing a 

transit automation research initiative as 

one of the mobility innovation projects 

to explore the value and challenges of 

transit automation innovative 

technologies. FTA is currently exploring 

the use of automation technologies in 

transit bus operations. Key research 

activities include developing a transit 

automation strategic plan; growing 

stakeholder partnerships/engagements 

to increase understanding of transit 

automation use cases; fielding 

demonstrations to identify promising 

solutions; and exploring the human 

factors associated with adoption of 

transit automation approaches. Potential 

benefits of transit bus automation may 

include: Increased passenger/operator 

safety; operational efficiencies; 

expanded transit capacity; fuel 

efficiencies; service effectiveness; and 

rider satisfaction. More information on 

Shared Mobility can be found at: 

https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulationsand-guidance/shared-mobility-faqseligibility-under-fta-grant-programs. 

4. Value Capture 

Current law includes a definition of 

‘‘value capture’’ to mean ‘‘recovering the 

increased property value to property 

located near public transportation 

resulting from investments in public 

transportation.’’ (49 U.S.C. 5302(24)). 

Value capture financing strategies 

include, but are not limited to, land 

value taxes, tax increment financing, 

special assessment districts, 

transportation utility fees, development 

impact fees, negotiated extractions, 

transit-oriented development, air rights, 

and joint development. FTA encourages 

the use of value capture strategies that 

contribute to the operation, 

maintenance, or expansion of public 

transportation services. Revenue 

generated by value capture is 

considered by FTA as local funding and 

can be used as the local share towards 

the funding of capital projects and 

operating costs eligible under Chapter 

53 of title 49, United States Code. FTA 

is updating its program circulars and 

website to include additional guidance 

on the use of value capture financing 

strategies. 

5. Transit Asset Management Plans 

A transit provider’s initial Transit 

Asset Management (TAM) plan must be 

completed no later than October 1, 

2018. A provider may submit in writing 

to FTA a request to extend this 

deadline. FTA must receive a request to 

extend the deadline before the deadline 

occurs and will consider all requests on 

a case-by-case basis. See 49 CFR part 


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625 for more information about the 

requirements for TAM plans. 

6. Bus Testing (49 U.S.C. 5318) 

The Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA) is required to maintain a bus 

testing facility to test bus models 

purchased with Federal funding 

assistance. Any new model of a vehicle/ 

bus to be used in public transportation 

revenue service and purchased with 

FTA funds must be tested at this bus 

testing facility. Fees for bus testing are 

shared: FTA funds 80 percent of the fees 

and the entity having the vehicle tested 

pays 20 percent of the fees. 

In 2016, FTA issued a regulation to 

implement minimum performance 

standards, a scoring system, and a pass/ 

fail threshold for new model transit 

buses procured with FTA financial 

assistance authorized under 49 U.S.C. 

Chapter 53 (49 CFR part 655). The 

standards and scoring system address 

the following categories: Structural 

integrity, safety, maintainability, 

reliability, fuel economy, emissions, 

noise, and performance. Buses must 

meet a minimum performance standard 

in each of these categories to receive an 

overall passing score and be eligible for 

purchase using FTA financial 

assistance. Buses can achieve higher 

scores with higher performance in each 

category, and the final rule establishes 

a numerical scoring system based on a 

100-point scale so that buyers can more 

effectively compare vehicles. 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2018 provides $5 million for the 

operation and maintenance of the bus 

testing facility authorized under 49 

U.S.C. 5318. This is a $2 million 

increase over previous annual 

appropriation amounts. Additionally, 

the Act provides an additional $2 

million for certain grantees receiving 

funds under 49 U.S.C. 5312(h) to 

operate and maintain a facility to 

conduct the testing of low or no 

emission vehicle new bus models using 

the standards established pursuant to 

section 5318. 

FTA’s website has additional 

information, resources, and a link to 

sign up for email notices about the Bus 

Testing Program at: 

www.transit.dot.gov/researchinnovation/bus-testing. 

C. FY 2018 Competitive Program 

Funding 

FTA’s competitive grants programs 

and the FY 2018 authorized funding 

levels are identified in the chart below. 

FTA selects projects for funding after 

issuance of a Notice of Funding 

Opportunity. Additional information 

about each competitive program is in 

Section III of this notice. 

FY 2018 competitive programs Statute 49 U.S.C. 

2018 

authorized 

funding level 

(in millions) 

Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility Grants ................................................... FAST Section 3006(b) .............................. $3.25 

Tribal Transit ................................................................................................................ 5311(c)(1)(A) ............................................. 5.0 

Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive Program ......................................... 5339 .......................................................... 366.29 

Low or No Emission Grants Competitive Program ...................................................... 5339 .......................................................... 84.45 

Pilot Program TOD Planning ........................................................................................ MAP–21 Section 2005(b) ......................... 10.00 

Note: The Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities and Low or No Emission Grants programs received funding in addition to the authorized levels; 

$161,446,000 and $29,450,000, respectively. 

IV. FY 2018 Program-Specific 

Information 

A. Metropolitan Planning Program (49 

U.S.C. 5303 and 5305(d)) 

Section 5305(d) authorizes Federal 

funding to support a cooperative, 

continuous, and comprehensive 

planning program for transportation 

investment decision-making at the 

metropolitan area level. The specific 

requirements of metropolitan 

transportation planning are set forth in 

49 U.S.C. 5303 and further explained in 

23 CFR part 450, as incorporated by 

reference in 49 CFR part 613, Planning 

Assistance and Standards. The State 

DOTs are the designated recipients of 

Metropolitan Planning Programs (MPP) 

and State Planning and Research 

Program (SPRP) funds allocated by FTA, 

which are then sub-allocated to 

Metropolitan Planning Organizations 

(MPOs) for planning activities that 

support the economic vitality of the 

metropolitan area. The Secretary has the 

discretion to award MPP and SPRP 

assistance to States, authorities of 

States, (MPOs), and local governmental 

authorities. 

Each MPO must establish specific 

performance targets against system 

performance measures issued by U.S. 

DOT), and use these in tracking progress 

towards attaining critical outcomes. The 

MPO must coordinate with States and 

transit providers in setting these targets. 

MPOs must provide a system 

performance report that evaluates 

progress in meeting the performance 

targets in comparison with the system 

performance identified in prior reports. 

MPP funding must support work 

resulting in balanced and 

comprehensive intermodal 

transportation planning for the 

movement of people and goods in the 

metropolitan area. Comprehensive 

transportation planning is not limited to 

transit planning or surface 

transportation planning, but also 

encompasses the relationships among 

land use and all transportation modes, 

without regard to the programmatic 

source of Federal assistance. MPP funds 

may be used for studies relating to 

management, mobility management, 

planning, operations, capital 

requirements, economic feasibility, 

performance-based planning, safety, and 

transit asset management. Funds may 

also be used to develop or update the 

metropolitan planning agreements. 

Funds may also be used to evaluate 

previously funded projects or to 

conduct peer reviews and exchanges of 

technical data, information, or 

assistance, among MPOs and other 

transportation planners. Funds may be 

also used for planning for multimodal 

transportation access to transit facilities; 

system planning: Scenario planning; 

corridor-level alternative analysis; 

development of federally required 

documents; safety, security and 

emergency transportation planning; 

coordinated public transit human 

services transportation planning; and 

public participation in the 

transportation planning, including the 

development of the Public Participation 

Plan. An exhaustive list of eligible work 

activities is provided in FTA Circular 

8100.1C, Program Guidance for 

Metropolitan Planning and State 

Planning and Research Program Grants, 

dated September 1, 2008. 

For more information or questions on 

the Metropolitan Planning program, 

please contact Victor Austin at (202) 

366–2996 or victor.austin@dot.gov. 


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1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes 

$112,664,897 in FY 2018 to provide 

financial assistance for metropolitan 

planning needs under Section 5305. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $112,664,897 

is available to the Metropolitan 

Planning Program (Section 5305(d)) to 

support metropolitan transportation 

planning activities set forth in Section 

5303. The total amount apportioned for 

the Metropolitan Planning Program to 

States for use by MPOs in urbanized 

areas (UZAs) is $112,101,573 as shown 

in the table below, after the deduction 

for oversight (authorized by Section 

5338). 

METROPOLITAN PLANNING PROGRAM

Total Appropriation available $112,664,897 

Oversight Deductions ........... (563,324) 

Total Apportioned .............. 112,101,573 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

Of the amounts authorized in Section 

5305, 82.72 percent is made available to 

the Metropolitan Planning Program. As 

a subset of the Metropolitan Planning 

Program funds, FTA apportions eighty 

percent to the states by statutory 

formula based on the most recent 

decennial Census for each State’s UZA 

population. The remaining 20 percent is 

provided to the States based on an FTA 

administrative formula to address 

planning needs in larger, more complex 

UZAs. The amount published for each 

State includes this supplemental 

allocation. 

4. Requirements 

The States allocate Metropolitan 

Planning funds to MPOs in UZAs or 

portions thereof to provide funds for 

planning projects included in a one or 

two-year program of planning work 

activities (the Unified Planning Work 

Program, or UPWP) that includes 

multimodal systems planning activities 

spanning both highway and transit 

planning topics. Each State has either 

reaffirmed or developed, in consultation 

with its MPOs, an allocation formula 

among MPOs within the State, based on 

the 2010 Census. The allocation formula 

among MPOs in each State may be 

changed annually, but any change 

requires approval by the FTA Regional 

Office before grant approval. Program 

guidance for the Metropolitan Planning 

Program is found in FTA Circular 

8100.1C, Program Guidance for 

Metropolitan Planning and State 

Planning and Research Program Grants, 

dated September 1, 2008. 

5. Period of Availability 

The Metropolitan Planning program 

funds apportioned in this notice are 

available for obligation during FY 2018 

plus three additional fiscal years. Funds 

apportioned in FY 2018 must be 

obligated in grants by September 30, 

2021. Any FY 2018 apportioned funds 

that remain unobligated at the close of 

business on September 30, 2021, will 

revert to FTA for reapportionment 

under the Metropolitan Planning 

Program. 

6. Other Program Information 

The planning programs provide 

funding and procedural requirements to 

metropolitan areas and States for 

multimodal transportation planning that 

is cooperative, continuous, and 

comprehensive, resulting in long-range 

plans and short-range programs of 

projects that reflect transportation 

investment priorities. The planning 

programs are jointly administered by 

FTA and the Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA), which 

provides additional funding. Several 

changes established by the FAST Act to 

Sections 5303 and 5304 are noted 

below: 

New emphasis is placed on intercity 

transportation, including intercity buses 

and intermodal facilities that support 

intercity transportation, and commuter 

vanpool providers. The selection and 

role of the transit representation on 

MPO policy boards in large urbanized 

areas is clarified. MPOs in urbanized 

areas designated as transportation 

management areas must include 

officials of agencies that administer or 

operate major modes of transportation, 

as well as representatives of public 

transit operators, on MPO policy boards. 

The representative of public transit 

shall be selected per the bylaws or 

enabling legislation of the MPO, and the 

representative of public transit may also 

serve as a representative of a local 

municipality on the MPO board. For 

additional information please reference 

the Final Rule on Statewide and 

Nonmetropolitan Transportation 

Planning and Metropolitan 

Transportation Planning (81 FR 34050, 

May 27, 2016). 

The scope of the planning process 

adds two new planning factors, in 

addition to the eight pre-existing factors 

established under prior law. The two 

new factors are: (1) Improve the 

resiliency and reliability of the 

transportation system, and reduce the 

vulnerability of the existing 

transportation infrastructure to natural 

disasters, and (2) enhance travel and 

tourism. MPOs and State DOTs should 

provide public ports, intercity bus 

operators and employer-based 

commuting programs with a reasonable 

opportunity to comment on 

transportation plans. Plans must place 

greater emphasis on the congestion 

management process. MPOs that serve a 

Transportation Management Areas 

(TMAs) with a population of 1 million 

or more must prepare a congestion 

management performance plan, while 

TMAs with a population less than 1 

million may prepare a congestion 

management plan. MPOs that serve 

transportation management areas must 

address congestion management 

through a process that provides for safe 

and effective integrated management 

and operation of the multimodal 

transportation system based on 

cooperatively developed metropolitanwide strategies. 

The long-range statewide 

transportation plan and metropolitan 

transportation plan must include a 

description of the performance 

measures and performance targets. State 

DOTs and MPOs are also required to 

provide a system performance report 

evaluating the condition and 

performance of the transportation 

system. 

In the Final Rule on Statewide and 

Nonmetropolitan Transportation 

Planning and Metropolitan 

Transportation Planning (81 FR 34050), 

FHWA and FTA make the statewide, 

metropolitan, and nonmetropolitan 

transportation planning regulations 

consistent with current statutory 

requirements. The final rule establishes 

the following: (1) A new mandate for 

States and MPOs to take a performancebased approach to planning and 

programming; (2) a new emphasis on 

the nonmetropolitan transportation 

planning process, by requiring States to 

have a higher level of involvement with 

nonmetropolitan local officials and 

providing a process for the creation of 

Regional Transportation Planning 

Organizations (RTPOs); (3) 

implementation of the aforementioned 

statutory requirement for a structural 

change to the membership of the larger 

MPOs; (4) a new framework for 

voluntary scenario planning; (5) a new 

authority for the integration of the 

planning and environmental review 

processes; and (6) a process for 

programmatic mitigation plans. 

Among the most significant changes is 

the new mandate for a performancebased planning process: MPOs and State 

DOTs must establish performance 

targets that address forthcoming U.S. 

DOT-issued national performance 


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measures that are based on the goals 

outlined in the legislation—safety, 

infrastructure condition, congestion 

reduction, system reliability, economic 

vitality, environmental sustainability, 

reduced project delivery delays, transit 

safety, and transit asset management. 

MPOs also must coordinate their 

performance targets, to the maximum 

extent practicable, with performance 

targets set by FTA grantees under the 

new performance measure requirements 

for safety and state of good repair. 

Transportation Improvement Programs 

(TIPs) must include a description of the 

anticipated progress toward achieving 

the performance targets resulting from 

implementation of the TIP. After May 

27, 2018, a State’s and MPO’s long-range 

plans, STIPs, and TIPs must reflect 

performance targets and plans per the 

provisions of the final rule. 

B. State Planning and Research Program 

(49 U.S.C. 5304 and 5305(e)) 

This program provides financial 

assistance to States for statewide 

transportation planning and other 

technical assistance activities, including 

supplementing the technical assistance 

program provided through the 

Metropolitan Planning program and 

planning support for non-urbanized 

areas. The specific requirements of 

Statewide transportation planning are 

set forth in 49 U.S.C. 5304 and further 

explained in 23 CFR part 450 as 

referenced in 49 CFR part 613, Planning 

Assistance and Standards. State DOTs 

are required to reference performance 

measures and performance targets 

within the Statewide Planning process. 

This funding must support work 

resulting in balanced and 

comprehensive intermodal 

transportation planning for the 

movement of people and goods and has 

the same eligibilities as MPP funds. 

For more information or questions on 

the State Planning and Research 

program, please contact Victor Austin at 

(202) 366–2996 or victor.austin@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes 

$23,535,414 in FY 2018, to provide 

financial assistance for statewide 

planning and other technical assistance 

activities under Section 5305. As 

specified in law, this represents the 

17.28 percent of the amounts available 

for Section 5305 that are allocated to the 

Statewide Planning and Research 

program. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $23,535,414 

is for the State Planning and Research 

Program (Section 5305(e)). The total 

amount apportioned for the State 

Planning and Research Program (SPRP) 

is $23,417,737 as shown in the table 

below, after the deduction for oversight 

(authorized by Section 5338). 

STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION

PLANNING PROGRAM

Total Appropriation available $23,535,414 

Oversight Deductions ........... (117,677) 

Total Apportioned .............. 23,417,737 

States’ apportionments for this 

program are displayed in Table 2. 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

Of the amount authorized for Section 

5305, 17.28 percent is allocated to the 

State Planning and Research program. 

FTA apportions funds to States by a 

statutory formula that is based on the 

most recent decennial Census data 

available, specifically, the State’s UZA 

population as compared to the UZA 

population of all States. 

4. Requirements 

Funds are provided to States for 

Statewide transportation planning 

programs. These funds may be used for 

a variety of purposes such as planning, 

technical studies and assistance, 

performance-based planning, 

demonstrations, and management 

training. In addition, a State may 

authorize a portion of these funds to be 

used to supplement Metropolitan 

Planning funds allocated by the State to 

its UZAs, as the State deems 

appropriate. Program guidance for the 

State Planning and Research program is 

found in FTA Circular 8100.1C, 

Program Guidance for Metropolitan 

Planning and State Planning and 

Research Program Grants, dated 

September 1, 2008. 

5. Period of Availability 

The State Planning and Research 

program funds apportioned in this 

notice are available for obligation during 

FY 2018 plus three additional fiscal 

years. Accordingly, funds apportioned 

in FY 2018 must be obligated in grants 

by September 30, 2021. Any FY 2018 

apportioned funds that remain 

unobligated at the close of business on 

September 30, 2021 will revert to FTA 

for reapportionment under the State 

Planning and Research program. 

C. Urbanized Area Formula Program (49 

U.S.C. 5307) 

The Urbanized Area Formula Program 

provides financial assistance to 

designated recipients in urbanized areas 

(UZAs) for capital investments in public 

transportation systems, planning, job 

access and reverse commute projects, 

and, in some cases, operating assistance. 

FTA apportions funds for this program 

through a statutory formula. Of the 

amount authorized for Section 5307 

each year, $30 million is set aside for 

the competitive Passenger Ferry Grant 

Program (Ferry program), as authorized 

under 49 U.S.C. 5307(h). The Ferry 

program offers financial assistance to 

public ferry systems in urbanized areas 

for capital projects. Projects are selected 

annually through a funding 

competition. Additionally, 0.5 percent 

will be apportioned to eligible States for 

State Safety Oversight (SSO) Program 

grants, and 0.75 percent will be set aside 

for program oversight. Further 

information on the 0.5 percent 

apportionment to States for the State 

Safety Oversight Program is provided in 

section IV.M. of this notice. 

For more information or questions on 

the Urbanized Area Formula Program, 

contact Tara Clark at (202) 366–2623 or 

tara.clark@dot.gov. For more 

information on the Ferry Program, 

contact Vanessa Williams at (202) 366– 

4818 or vanessa.williams@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes 

$5,279,690,721 in FY 2018 to provide 

financial assistance for urbanized areas 

under Section 5307. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, 

$5,279,690,721 is available for the 

Urbanized Area Formula program. The 

total amount apportioned to urbanized 

areas (UZAs) is $5,228,378,222, which 

includes the addition of amounts 

apportioned to UZAs pursuant to the 

Section 5340 Growing States and HighDensity States Formula factors. This 

amount to UZAs excludes the set-aside 

of $30 million for the Ferry program, 

apportionments under the State Safety 

Oversight Program, and oversight 

(authorized by Section 5338), as shown 

in the table below: 

URBANIZED AREA FORMULA PROGRAM

Total Appropriation available ............................... a $4,726,907,174 

Oversight Deduction ......... ¥35,451,804 

State Safety Oversight 

Program ........................ ¥23,634,536 

Ferry Discretionary Program .............................. ¥30,000,000 

5340 High Density States b 282,825,570 

5340 Growing States ........ b 214,714,305 

Reapportioned Funds ....... 1,816,904 


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URBANIZED AREA FORMULA

PROGRAM—Continued 

Total Apportioned .......... 5,137,177,613 

a Includes 1.5 percent set-aside for Small 

Transit Intensive Cities Formula Table 3 displays the amounts apportioned under the Urbanized Area Formula Program. b Includes technical corrections to fix FY 

2017 errors. 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

FTA apportions Urbanized Area 

Formula Program funds based on 

statutory formulas. Congress established 

four separate formulas to apportion 

available funding: The Section 5307 

Urbanized Area Formula Program 

formula, the Small Transit Intensive 

Cities (STIC) formula, the Growing 

States and High Density States formula, 

and a formula based on low-income 

population. 

Consistent with prior apportionment 

notices, Table 3 shows a total Section 

5307 apportionment for each UZA, 

which includes amounts apportioned 

under each of these formulas. Detailed 

information about the formulas is 

provided in Table 4. For technical 

assistance purposes, the UZAs that 

receive STIC funds are listed in Table 6. 

FTA will provide breakouts of the 

funding allocated to each UZA under 

these formulas upon request to the FTA 

Regional Office. 

FTA has calculated dollar unit values 

for the formula factors used in the 

Urbanized Area Formula Program 

apportionment calculations. These 

values represent the amount of money 

each unit of a factor is worth in this 

year’s apportionment. The unit values 

change each year, based on all data used 

to calculate the apportionments, as well 

as the amount appropriated by Congress 

for the apportionment. The dollar unit 

values for FY 2018 are displayed in 

Table 5. To replicate the basic formula 

component of a UZA’s apportionment, 

multiply the dollar unit value by the 

appropriate formula factor (i.e., the 

population, population x population 

density), and when applicable, data 

from the NTD (i.e., route miles, vehicle 

revenue miles, passenger miles, and 

operating cost). 

a. Section 5307—Urbanized Area 

Formula 

For UZAs between 50,000 and 

199,999 in population, the Urbanized 

Area Formula is primarily based on 

population and population density. For 

UZAs with populations of 200,000 or 

more, the formula is based on 

population and population density, as 

well as a combination of bus revenue 

vehicle miles, bus passenger miles, bus 

operating costs, fixed guideway vehicle 

revenue miles, and fixed guideway 

route miles, either within the UZA or 

attributable to the UZA. The Urbanized 

Area Formula is defined in 49 U.S.C. 

5336. Consistent with Section 5336(b), 

FTA has included 27 percent of the 

fixed guideway directional route miles 

and vehicle revenue miles from eligible 

urbanized area transit systems, but 

which were attributable to rural areas 

outside of the urbanized areas from 

which the system receives funds. 

b. Small Transit Intensive Cities (STIC) 

Formula 

Under the STIC formula, FTA 

apportions 1.5 percent of the funds 

made available for Section 5307 to 

UZAs that are under 200,000 in 

population and have public 

transportation service that operates at a 

level equal to or above the industry 

average for UZAs with a population of 

at least 200,000, but not more than 

999,999. STIC funds are apportioned 

based on six performance categories: 

Passenger miles traveled per vehicle 

revenue mile, passenger miles traveled 

per vehicle revenue hour, vehicle 

revenue miles per capita, vehicle 

revenue hours per capita, passenger 

miles traveled per capita, and 

passengers per capita. In FY 2019, the 

STIC set aside will increase from 1.5 

percent to 2 percent. 

The data used to determine a UZA’s 

eligibility under the STIC formula and 

to calculate the STIC apportionments 

was obtained from the NTD for the 2016 

reporting year. Because performance 

data change with each year’s NTD 

reports, the UZAs eligible for STIC 

funds and the amount each receives 

may vary each year. UZAs that received 

funding through the STIC formula for 

FY 2018 are listed in Table 6. 

c. Section 5340—Growing States and 

High Density States Formula 

FTA also apportions funds to 

qualifying UZAs and States according to 

the Section 5340 Growing States and 

High Density States formula, as shown 

in Table 3. More information on this 

program and its formula is found in 

Section IV.P. of this notice. 

d. Low-Income Population 

Of the amount authorized and 

appropriated for the Urbanized Area 

Formula Program in each year, 3.07 

percent is apportioned based on low 

income population. As specified in 

statute, FTA apportions 75 percent of 

the available funds to UZAs with a 

population of 200,000 or more. Funds 

are apportioned based on the ratio of the 

number of low income individuals in 

each UZA to the total number of low 

income individuals in all urbanized 

areas of that size. FTA apportions the 

remainder of the funds (25 percent) to 

UZAs with populations of less than 

200,000, per an equivalent formula. The 

low-income populations used for this 

calculation were based on the American 

Community Survey (ACS) data set for 

2011–2015. This information is updated 

by the Census Bureau annually. 

4. Requirements 

To comply with or maintain 

compliance with the Clean Air Act 

(CAA) or the Americans with 

Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the 

maximum Federal share for the 

Urbanized Area Formula Program, 

including the Passenger Ferry Program, 

is 85 percent for the net project cost of 

acquiring vehicles (including clean-fuel 

or alternative fuel). The maximum 

Federal share is 90 percent of the net 

project cost for acquiring vehicle-related 

equipment or facilities (including cleanfuel or alternative-fuel vehicle-related 

equipment or facilities) for complying 

with or maintaining compliance with 

the CAA or ADA. 

Program guidance for the Urbanized 

Area Formula Program is found in FTA 

Circular 9030.1E, Urbanized Area 

Formula Program: Program Guidance 

and Application Instructions, dated 

January 16, 2014, and is supplemented 

by additional information and changes 

provided in this notice and that may be 

posted to the Urbanized Area Formula 

Grants program web page. FTA is in the 

process of updating the program circular 

to incorporate changes resulting from 

FAST Act amendments to 49 U.S.C. 

5307. 

5. Period of Availability 

Funds made available under the 

Urbanized Area Formula Program are 

available for obligation during the year 

of apportionment plus five additional 

years. Accordingly, funds apportioned 

in FY 2018 must be obligated by 

September 30, 2023. Any FY 2018 

apportioned funds that remain 

unobligated at the close of business on 

September 30, 2023 will revert to FTA 

for reapportionment under the 

Urbanized Area Formula Program. 

Funds allocated under the Passenger 

Ferry program follow the same period of 

availability as Section 5307. 

Accordingly, funds allocated in FY 2018 

must be obligated by September 30, 

2023. Any of the funds allocated in FY 

2018 that remain unobligated at the 

close of business on September 30, 2023 

will revert to FTA for reallocation under 

the Passenger Ferry program. 


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D. Fixed Guideway Capital Investment 

Grants Program (49 U.S.C. 5309) 

The Capital Investment Grants (CIG) 

Program includes four types of eligible 

projects: New Starts projects, Small 

Starts projects, Core Capacity 

Improvement projects, and Programs of 

Inter-related Projects. Funding is 

provided for construction of: (1) New 

fixed guideway systems or extensions to 

existing fixed guideway systems such as 

rapid rail (heavy rail), commuter rail, 

light rail, trolleybus (using overhead 

catenary), cable car, passenger ferries, 

and bus rapid transit operating on an 

exclusive transit lane for the majority of 

the corridor length during peak periods 

that also includes features that emulate 

the services provided by rail fixed 

guideway, including defined stations, 

traffic signal priority for public transit 

vehicles, and short headway bidirectional service for a substantial part 

of weekdays and weekends; (2) corridorbased bus rapid transit service that does 

not operate on an exclusive transit lane 

but includes features that emulate the 

services provided by rail fixed 

guideway, including defined stations, 

traffic signal priority for public transit 

vehicles, and short headway bidirectional services for a substantial part 

of weekdays; (3) projects that expand 

the capacity by at least 10 percent in an 

existing fixed guideway corridor that is 

at capacity today or will be in five years; 

and (4) programs of two or more 

interrelated projects as described above 

that have logical connectivity with one 

another and will all begin construction 

in a reasonable timeframe. 

For more information about the 

Capital Investment Grant program 

contact Elizabeth Day, Office of Capital 

Project Development, at (202) 366–5159 

or elizabeth.day@dot.gov. For 

information about published allocations 

contact Eric Hu, Office of Transit 

Programs, at (202) 366–0870 or eric.hu@

dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes 

$2,301,785,760 in FY 2018, to provide 

financial assistance under Section 5309. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, 

$2,650,010,000 is available to the Fixed 

Guideway Capital Investment Grants 

Program. The Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018 requires of the 

amounts made available, $2,252,508,586 

to be obligated by December 31, 2019. 

The funds are allocated in the following 

manner: $1,506,910,000 for New Starts 

projects; $715,700,000 for Core Capacity 

projects; $400,900,000 for Small Starts 

projects; and $26,500,000 for Oversight. 

These amounts are based on allocating 

the $2.64 billion in new budget 

authority and $5.05 million from 

recovered and unobligated Section 5309 

Bus and Bus Facilities funds that were 

appropriated from FY 2000 thru FY 

2005. The total amount available for 

projects is $2,623,509,990 as shown in 

the table below, after the deduction for 

oversight (authorized by Section 5338). 

FIXED GUIDEWAY CAPITAL INVESTMENT

GRANTS PROGRAM

Total Appropriation available ................................. $2,650,010,000 

Oversight Deduction ........... (26,500,000) 

Total Apportioned * .......... 2,623,510,000 

* Of the total amount apportioned, 

$2,252,508,586 shall be obligated by December 31, 2019. 

3. Basis for Allocation 

Funds are allocated on a competitive 

basis and subject to program evaluation. 

4. Requirements 

Projects become candidates for 

funding under the Capital Investment 

Grant Program by successfully 

completing steps in the process defined 

in Section 5309 and obtaining a 

satisfactory rating under the statutorilydefined criteria. For New Starts and 

Core Capacity Improvement projects, 

the steps in the process include project 

development, engineering, and 

construction. For Small Starts projects, 

the steps in the process include project 

development and construction. For 

programs of interrelated projects, the 

steps in the process depend on the 

combination of project types included. 

5. Period of Availability 

The Fixed Guideway Capital 

Investment Grant program funds 

apportioned in this notice are available 

for obligation during FY 2018 plus three 

additional fiscal years. Accordingly, 

funds apportioned in FY 2018 must be 

obligated in grants by September 30, 

2021, except $2,252,508,586 that must 

be obligated by December 31, 2019. All 

funds must be disbursed by the 

recipient by September 30, 2026. 

E. Formula Grants for the Enhanced 

Mobility of Seniors and Individuals 

With Disabilities Program (49 U.S.C. 

5310) 

The Section 5310 Enhanced Mobility 

of Seniors and Individuals with 

Disabilities Program provides formula 

funding to states and urbanized areas for 

meeting the transportation needs of 

older adults and people with disabilities 

when the public transportation service 

provided is unavailable, insufficient, or 

inappropriate to meet these needs. The 

program aims to improve mobility for 

seniors and individuals with disabilities 

by removing barriers to transportation 

service and expanding transportation 

mobility options. The Pilot Program for 

Innovative Coordinated Access and 

Mobility Program (Pilot Program)—was 

established by Section 3006(b) of the 

FAST Act. The purpose of the program 

is to assist in financing innovative 

projects for the transportation 

disadvantaged that improve the 

coordination of transportation services 

and non-emergency medical 

transportation (NEMT) services, 

including, for example, the deployment 

of coordination technology, and projects 

that create or increase access to 

community One-Call/One-Click Centers. 

For more information or questions on 

the Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and 

Individuals with Disabilities program, 

please contact Kelly Tyler at (202) 366– 

3102 or kelly.tyler@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes 

$273,840,764 in FY 2018 to provide 

formula funding to states for meeting 

the transportation needs of older adults 

and people with disabilities. The law 

also authorizes $3.25 million for the 

competitive Pilot Program. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $127,772,132 

is available for projects under the 

Section 5310 formula program after the 

oversight deduction as shown in the 

table below. 

FORMULA GRANTS FOR THE ENHANCED

MOBILITY OF SENIORS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES PROGRAM

Total Appropriation available $273,840,764 

Oversight Deduction ............. (1,369,204) 

Total Apportioned (Formula) 272,471,560 

Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility Pilot 

Program ............................ 3,250,000 

Total Apportioned .............. 275,721,560 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

Sixty percent of the funds are 

apportioned among designated 

recipients for urbanized areas with a 

population of 200,000 or more 

individuals. Twenty percent of the 

funds are apportioned among the States 

for urbanized areas with a population of 

at least 50,000 but less than 200,000. 


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Twenty percent of the funds are 

apportioned among the States for rural 

areas, defined as areas with a 

population less than 50,000. Census 

Data on Older Adults and People with 

Disabilities is used for the Section 5310 

program apportionments. FY 2018 

Apportionments Table 8 displays the 

amounts apportioned under the 

Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and 

Individuals with Disabilities Program. 

Under the Section 5310 formula, 

funds are allocated using Census data 

on older adults (i.e., persons 65 and 

older) and people with disabilities. 

However, beginning in 2010, the Census 

Bureau stopped collecting this 

demographic information as part of its 

decennial census. Data on seniors and 

people with disabilities is now only 

available from the American 

Community Survey (ACS), which is 

conducted and published on a rolling 

basis. FTA’s FY 2018 Section 5310 

apportionments incorporate ACS data 

published in December 2016. Data on 

seniors comes from the ACS 20111– 

2015 five-year data set, Table B01001, 

‘‘Sex by Age.’’ Data on persons with 

disabilities comes from the ACS 2011 

2015 five-year data set, Table S.1810, 

‘‘Disability Characteristics.’’ 

4. Requirements 

At least 55 percent of program funds 

must be used on traditional Section 

5310 projects such as buses and vans; 

wheelchair lifts, ramps, and securement 

devices; or transit-related information 

technology systems including 

scheduling/routing/one-call systems. 

Mobility management programs are also 

defined as capital projects for purposes 

of this provision. The acquisition of 

transportation services under a contract, 

lease, or other arrangement is also 

eligible; both the capital and operating 

costs associated with contracted service 

are eligible capital expenses for 

purposes of this provision. The capital 

eligibility of acquisition of services is 

limited to the Section 5310 program. 

The remaining 45 percent of a 

recipient’s 5310 funds may be used for 

capital expenses or operating assistance. 

a. Eligible Recipients 

Eligible recipients include States for 

rural and small urban areas and 

designated recipients chosen by the 

Governor of the State for large urban 

areas; or a State or local governmental 

entity that operates a public 

transportation service. For urbanized 

areas less than 200,000 in population 

and in the rural areas, the State is the 

designated recipient for Section 5310. 

Current Section 5310 designations 

remain in effect until changed by the 

Governor of a State by officially 

notifying the appropriate FTA Regional 

Administrator of re-designation. A State 

or local governmental entity that 

operates a public transportation service 

may be a direct recipient for Section 

5310 funds. 

For urbanized areas over 200,000 in 

population, the recipient charged with 

administering the Section 5310 Program 

must be officially designated in 

accordance with the planning process, 

by the Governor of a State, responsible 

local officials, and publicly owned 

operators of public transportation prior 

to grant award (See the definition of 

designated recipient, 49 U.S.C. 5302(4)). 

Designated recipients are responsible for 

administering the program. Eligible 

subrecipients include State or local 

governmental authorities, private 

nonprofit agencies, and operators of 

public transportation that receive a 

grant indirectly through a recipient. For 

the 55 percent of funds that must be 

used for capital projects, eligible 

subrecipients include private nonprofit 

organizations as well as State or local 

governmental authorities that are either 

approved by the State to coordinate 

services for seniors and people with 

disabilities, or which certify to the 

Governor that no nonprofit 

organizations are readily available in the 

area to provide the service. 

b. Local Match 

Capital assistance is provided at 80 

percent Federal share; 20 percent local 

share. Operating assistance requires a 50 

percent local match. Funds provided 

under other Federal programs (other 

than those of the DOT, except for the 

Federal Lands Transportation Program) 

may be used as local match for funds 

provided under Section 5310, and 

revenue from service contracts may be 

used as local match. 

c. Planning and Consultation 

The coordinated planning provision 

requires that all projects be included in 

the local coordinated human servicepublic transportation plan. The plan 

must be developed and adopted with 

representation from seniors, individuals 

with disabilities, representatives of 

public, private, nonprofit transportation 

and human services providers, and 

other members of the public. 

d. State and Project Management Plans 

States, designated recipients, and 

State or local governmental entities that 

operate a public transportation service 

that are responsible for implementing 

the Section 5310 program are required 

to document their approach to managing 

the program. The Management Plans 

serve as the basis for FTA management 

reviews of the program, and provide 

public information on the 

administration of the programs. 

e. Program of Projects (POP) 

Designated recipients are required to 

develop a Program of Projects (POP) 

with the grant application and submit it 

to the FTA Regional Office. The POP 

should be developed with respect to the 

coordinated plan, long range plan, and 

the transportation improvement plan. 

For additional guidance in developing 

the required POP, see Chapter IV of the 

FTA Circular 9070.1G, Enhanced 

Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with 

Disabilities Program Guidance and 

Application Instructions, dated July 7, 

2014. 

5. Period of Availability 

The Enhanced Mobility of Seniors 

and Individuals with Disabilities 

program funds apportioned in this 

notice are available for obligation during 

FY 2018 plus two additional fiscal 

years. Accordingly, funds apportioned 

in FY 2018 must be obligated in grants 

by September 30, 2020. Any FY 2018 

apportioned funds that remain 

unobligated at the close of business on 

September 30, 2020, will revert to FTA 

for reapportionment among the States 

and urbanized areas. 

6. Other Program Information 

A State may transfer apportioned 

funds between small urbanized areas 

and rural areas if it can certify that the 

needs are being met in the area to which 

the funds were originally apportioned. 

The State can transfer the funds (rural 

and small urbanized area) to any area 

within the state if a statewide program 

for Section 5310 is established. Section 

5310 funds may not be transferred to 

other FTA programs. However, Section 

5310 funds apportioned to large 

urbanized areas may not be transferred 

to other areas. Section 5310 program 

recipients may partner with meal 

delivery programs such as the Older 

Americans Act (OAA)-funded meal 

programs (to find local programs, visit: 

www.Eldercare.gov) and the USDA 

Summer Food Service Program http://

www.fns.usda.gov/sfsp/summer-foodservice-program-sfsp. Transit service 

providers receiving 5310 funds may 

coordinate and assist in providing meal 

delivery services on a regular basis if 

this does not conflict with the provision 

of transit services. 

Program Guidance is found in FTA 

Circular 9070.1G, Enhanced Mobility of 

Seniors and Individuals with 

Disabilities Program Guidance and 

Application Instructions, dated July 7, 


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2014. Section 3006(b) of the FAST Act 

created a new competitive pilot program 

for innovative coordinated access and 

mobility that is discussed above. The 

Federal share is 80 percent for capital 

projects. Local Match of 20 percent can 

come from other Federal (non-DOT) 

funds. 

F. Formula Grants for Rural Areas 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5311) 

The Formula Grants for Rural Areas 

program provides formula funding to 

States and Indian tribes for supporting 

public transportation in areas with a 

population of less than 50,000. Funding 

may be used for capital, operating, 

planning, job access and reverse 

commute projects, and State 

administration expenses. Eligible subrecipients include State and local 

governmental authorities, Indian Tribes, 

private non-profit organizations, and 

private intercity bus companies. Indian 

Tribes are also eligible direct recipients 

under the Formula Grants for Rural 

Areas program, both for funds 

apportioned to the States and for 

projects apportioned or selected to be 

funded with funds set aside from the 

Tribal Transit Program. 

For more information about the 

Formula Grants for Rural Areas 

program, please contact E ́ lan Flippin at 

(202) 366–3800 or elan.flippin@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes 

$577,721,886 in FY 2018 to provide 

financial assistance for rural areas under 

the Formula Grants for Rural Areas 

program, including funds for Section 

5340 Growing States. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $577,721,886 

is for the Rural Area Programs. The total 

amount apportioned to the program is 

$659,737,385 as shown in the table 

below, after the additional 

appropriation of $85,243,672 for the 

Section 5340 Growing States and 

oversight deduction (authorized by 

Section 5338). 

GRANTS FOR RURAL AREAS FORMULA

PROGRAM

Total Appropriation available $577,721,886 

Oversight Deduction ............. (3,228,173) 

5340 Growing States ............ 85,243,672 

Total Apportioned .............. 659,737,385 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

FTA apportions the Formula Grants 

for Rural Areas program funds to states 

by a statutory formula using the latest 

available U.S. decennial census data. 

Most of the Formula Grants for Formula 

Grants for Rural Areas program funds 

(83.15 percent) are apportioned based 

on land area and population factors. In 

the first tier, no state may receive more 

than 5 percent of the amount 

apportioned based on land area. The 

remaining funds (16.85 percent) are 

apportioned based on land area, vehicle 

revenue miles, and low-income 

individual factors. In the second tier, no 

state may receive more than 5 percent 

of the amount apportioned based on 

land area, or more than 5 percent of the 

amounts apportioned for vehicle 

revenue miles. In addition to funds 

made available under Section 5311, 

FTA adds amounts apportioned based 

on rural population per the growing 

states formula factors of 49 U.S.C. 5340 

to the amounts apportioned to the states 

under the Section 5311 formula. Before 

FTA apportions Section 5311 funds to 

the states, FTA subtracts funding from 

the total available amounts for the 

Appalachian Development 

Transportation Assistance Program, the 

Tribal Transit Program, the Rural 

Transportation Assistance Program 

(RTAP), and FTA oversight activities. 

Data from the National Transit 

Database (NTD) 2016 Report Year was 

used for this apportionment, including 

data from directly-reporting Indian 

tribes. Data from public transportation 

systems that reported as urbanized area 

systems, but that was not attributable to 

an urbanized area, was also included. 

The Formula Grants for Rural Areas 

program includes three takedowns: The 

Appalachian Development Public 

Transportation Assistance Program; the 

Rural Transit Assistance Program 

(RTAP); and the Tribal Transit Program. 

These separate programs are described 

in the sections that follow. 

4. Requirements 

The Formula Grants for Rural Areas 

program provides funding for capital, 

operating, planning, job access and 

reverse commute projects, and 

administration expenses for public 

transit service in rural areas under 

50,000 in population. The planning 

activities undertaken with Formula 

Grants for Rural Areas program funds 

are in addition to those awarded to the 

State under Section 5305 and must be 

used specifically for the needs of rural 

areas. 

a. Intercity Bus Transportation 

Each State must spend no less than 15 

percent of its annual Formula Grants for 

Rural Areas program apportionment for 

the development and support of 

intercity bus transportation, unless it 

can certify, after consultation with 

affected intercity bus service providers, 

that the intercity bus service needs of 

the State are adequately met. FTA 

encourages consultation with other 

stakeholders, such as communities 

affected by loss of intercity service. The 

cost of an unsubsidized portion of 

privately provided intercity bus service 

that connects feeder service, including 

all operating and capital costs of such 

service whether offset by revenue from 

such service may be used as in-kind 

local match for the intercity bus 

projects. FTA is updating the Formula 

Grants for Rural Areas program circular 

to include this change. 

b. State Administration 

States may elect to use up to 10 

percent of their apportionment at 100 

percent Federal share to administer the 

Formula Grants for Rural Areas program 

and provide technical assistance to 

subrecipients. Technical assistance 

includes project planning, program and 

management development, public 

transportation coordination activities, 

and research the State considers 

appropriate to promote effective 

delivery of public transportation to rural 

areas. 

c. Other Requirements 

The Federal share for capital 

assistance is 80 percent and for 

operating assistance is 50 percent, 

except that States eligible for the sliding 

scale match under FHWA programs may 

use that match ratio for Formula Grants 

for Rural Areas program capital projects 

and 62.5 percent of the sliding scale 

capital match ratio for operating 

projects. 

Each State prepares an annual 

program of projects, which must 

provide for fair and equitable 

distribution of funds within the States, 

including Indian reservations, and must 

provide for maximum feasible 

coordination with transportation 

services assisted by other Federal 

sources. 

Additional program guidance for the 

Formula Grants for Rural Areas program 

is found in FTA Circular 9040.1G, 

Formula Grants for Rural Areas: 

Program Guidance and Application 

Instructions, dated November 24, 2014, 

and is supplemented by additional 

information that may be posted to FTA’s 

web page. 

5. Period of Availability 

The Formula Grants for Rural Areas 

program funds apportioned in this 

notice are available for obligation during 

FY 2018 plus two additional fiscal 

years. Accordingly, funds apportioned 


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in FY 2018 must be obligated in grants 

by September 30, 2020. Any FY 2018 

apportioned funds that remain 

unobligated at the close of business on 

September 30, 2020, will revert to FTA 

for reapportionment under the Formula 

Grants for Rural Areas program. 

6. Other Program Information 

Revenue from the sale of advertising 

and concessions may be used as local 

match. 

G. Rural Transportation Assistance 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5311(b)(3)) 

This program provides funding to 

assist in the design and implementation 

of training and technical assistance 

projects, research, and other support 

services tailored to meet the needs of 

transit operators in rural areas. 

For more information about Rural 

Transportation Assistance Program 

(RTAP), please contact E ́ lan Flippin at 

(202) 366–3800 or elan.flippin@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

There is a two percent takedown from 

the funds made available for RTAP. Of 

the two percent takedown, 15 percent is 

reserved for the National RTAP 

program. The remainder is available for 

allocation to the States. 

Federal Transit Law authorizes 

$12,912,692 in FY 2018 to provide 

technical assistance. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

Under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018 $12,912,692 is 

available for the RTAP Program. The 

total amount apportioned for RTAP is 

$10,975,788 as shown in the table 

below, after the deduction for National 

RTAP. 

RURAL TRANSIT ASSISTANCE

PROGRAM (RTAP) 

Total Appropriation available $12,912,692 

National RTAP ...................... (1,936,904) 

Total Apportioned .............. 10,975,788 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

FTA allocates RTAP funds to the 

States by an administrative formula. 

First, FTA allocates $65,000 to each 

State ($10,000 to each territory), and 

then allocates the balance based on rural 

population in the 2010 census. 

4. Requirements 

Eligible RTAP expenses include the 

design and implementation of training 

and technical assistance projects, 

research, and other support services 

tailored to meet the needs of transit 

operators in rural areas. States may use 

the funds to undertake research, 

training, technical assistance, and other 

support services to meet the needs of 

transit operators in rural areas. These 

funds are to be used in conjunction with 

a State’s administration of the Formula 

Grants for Rural Areas program, but also 

may support the rural components of 

the Section 5310 program. 

5. Period of Availability 

The RTAP funds apportioned in this 

notice are available for obligation during 

FY 2018 plus two additional fiscal 

years. Accordingly, funds apportioned 

in FY 2018 must be obligated in grants 

by September 30, 2020. 

6. Other Program Information 

The National RTAP project is 

administered by cooperative agreement 

and re-competed at five-year intervals. 

In July of 2014, FTA awarded a 

cooperative agreement to the Neponset 

Valley Transportation Management 

Association to administer the National 

RTAP Program. The National RTAP 

projects are guided by a project review 

board that consists of managers of rural 

transit systems and State DOT RTAP 

programs. National RTAP resources also 

support the biennial Transportation 

Research Board National Conference on 

Rural Public and Intercity Bus 

Transportation and other research and 

technical assistance projects of a 

national scope. 

H. Appalachian Development Public 

Transportation Assistance Program (49 

U.S.C. 5311(c)(2)) 

This program is a take-down under 

the Formula Grants for Rural Areas 

program to provide additional funding 

to support public transportation in the 

Appalachian region. There are sixteen 

eligible States that receive an allocation 

under this provision. The State 

allocations are shown in the Formula 

Grants for Rural Areas program table 

posted on FTA’s website on the FY 2018 

Apportionments page. 

For more information about the 

Appalachian Development Public 

Transportation Assistance Program, 

please contact E ́ lan Flippin at (202) 

366–3800 or elan.flippin@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes $20 

million in each of FY 2016 through FY 

2020 as a take-down under the Formula 

Grants for Rural Areas program to 

support public transportation in the 

Appalachian region. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

Under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $20 million is 

available. 

APPALACHIAN DEVELOPMENT PUBLIC

TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Total Appropriation available $20,000,000 

Total Apportioned .............. 20,000,000 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

FTA apportions the funds using 

percentages established under Section 

9.5(b) of the Appalachian Regional 

Commission Code (subtitle IV of title 

40). Allocations are based in general on 

each State’s remaining estimated need 

to complete eligible sections of the 

Appalachian Development Highway 

System as determined from the latest 

percentages of available cost estimates 

for completion of the System. Such cost 

estimates are produced at approximate 

five-year intervals. Allocations contain 

upper and lower limits in amounts 

determined by the Commission and are 

made in accordance with legislative 

instructions. 

4. Requirements 

Funds apportioned under this 

program may be used for purposes 

consistent with the Formula Grants for 

Rural Areas program to support public 

transportation in the Appalachian 

region. Funds can be applied for in the 

State’s annual Formula Grants for Rural 

Areas program grant. 

Appalachian program funds that 

cannot be used for operating may be 

used for a highway project under certain 

circumstances. States should contact 

their regional office if they intend to 

request a transfer. Additional 

information about the requirements for 

this section can be found in Chapter VII 

of FTA Circular 9040.1G, Formula 

Grants for Rural Areas: Program 

Guidance and Application Instructions, 

dated November 24, 2014. 

5. Period of Availability 

The Appalachian program funds 

apportioned in this notice are available 

for obligation during FY 2018 plus two 

additional fiscal years, consistent with 

that established for the Formula Grants 

for Rural Areas program. 

I. Formula Grants for Public 

Transportation on Indian Reservations 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5311(j)) 

The Public Transportation on Indian 

Reservations Program, or Tribal Transit 

Program (TTP), totals $35 million, of 


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which $30 million is for a formula 

program and $5 million is for a 

competitive grant program. It is funded 

as a takedown from funds made 

available for the Formula Grants for 

Rural Areas program. Formula factors 

include vehicle revenue miles and the 

number of low-income individuals 

residing on tribal lands (defined as 

American Indian Areas, Alaska Native 

Areas, and Hawaiian Home Lands). 

Eligible direct recipients are Federally 

recognized Indian tribes and Alaskan 

Native Villages providing public 

transportation in rural areas. The TTP 

funds are allocated for grants to eligible 

recipients for any purpose eligible 

under Formula Grants for Rural Areas 

program, which includes capital, 

operating, planning, and job access and 

reverse commute projects. 

For more information about the Tribal 

Transit Program contact Douglas Moore, 

Office of Transit Programs at (202) 366– 

0876 or douglas.moore@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes $35 

million in FY 2018 ($30 million for 

formula and $5 million for the 

competitive program) to provide 

assistance to the tribes. Under the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, 

$30 million is available through 

September 30, 2018 for the formula 

program and $5 million for the 

competitive program. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018, $30 million is for the 

formula program as shown below. 

FORMULA GRANTS FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS PROGRAM

Total Appropriation available $30,000,000 

Total Apportioned ................. 30,000,000 

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ON INDIAN

RESERVATIONS PROGRAM COMPETITIVE GRANTS

Total Appropriation available $5,000,000 

Total Apportioned ................. 5,000,000 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

Funding is allocated by formula and 

distributed to eligible Indian tribes 

providing public transportation on tribal 

lands. The formula apportionment 

shown in Table 10 is based on a 

statutory formula which includes three 

tiers. Tiers 1 and 2 are based on data 

reported to NTD by Indian tribes; Tier 

3 is based on 2010–2014 American 

Community Survey data. The three tiers 

for the formula are: Tier 1—50 percent 

based on vehicle revenue miles reported 

to the NTD; Tier 2—25 percent provided 

in equal shares to Indian tribes reporting 

at least 200,000 vehicle revenue miles to 

the NTD; Tier 3—25 percent based on 

Indian tribes providing public 

transportation on tribal lands (American 

Indian Areas, Alaska Native Areas, and 

Hawaiian Home Lands) on which more 

than 1,000 low income individuals 

reside. If more than one eligible tribe 

provides public transportation services 

on tribal lands in a single Tribal 

Statistical Area, and the tribes cannot 

determine how to allocate Tier 3 funds, 

FTA will allocate the funds based on the 

relative portion of transit (as defined by 

unlinked passenger trips) operated by 

each tribe, as reported to the National 

Transit Database. 

4. Requirements 

Formula funds apportioned under this 

program can be used for purposes 

consistent with the Formula Grants for 

Rural Areas program to support public 

transportation on Indian Reservations in 

rural areas. Funds allocated under the 

competitive program must be used 

consistent with the tribe’s proposal and 

the allocation notice published in the 

Federal Register, which is used to 

announce the selected projects. Eligible 

recipients under both the competitive 

and formula program include federallyrecognized Indian tribes or Alaska 

native villages, groups, or communities 

as identified by the U.S. Department of 

the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(BIA). A tribe must have the legal, 

financial and technical capabilities to 

receive and administer Federal funds. 

Section 5335 requires NTD reporting 

for all recipients of Section 5311 funds. 

This reporting requirement continues to 

apply to the Tribal Transit Program. 

Tribes that provide public 

transportation in rural areas are 

reminded to report annually so they are 

included in the TTP formula 

apportionments. To be considered in the 

FY 2018 formula apportionments, tribes 

should have submitted their reports to 

the NTD no later than April 30, 2016; 

voluntary reporting to the NTD is also 

encouraged. Additionally, to be 

considered for the FY 2019 formula 

apportionment funds, tribes need to 

submit their reports to the NTD no later 

than April 30, 2017. Tribes needing 

assistance with reporting to the NTD 

should contact the NTD Helpline at 1– 

888–252–0936 or NTDHelp@dot.gov. 

5. Period of Availability 

The TTP program funds apportioned 

in this notice are available for obligation 

during FY 2018 plus two additional 

fiscal years. Accordingly, funds 

apportioned in FY 2018 must be 

obligated in grants by September 30, 

2020. Any FY 2018 apportioned funds 

that remain unobligated at the close of 

business on September 30, 2020, will 

revert to FTA for reapportionment 

under the TTP program. 

6. Other Program Information 

Section 207 of title 23, United States 

Code establishes a Tribal Transportation 

Self-Governance Program (Self 

Governance Program). The Self 

Governance Program will establish 

specific criteria for determining 

eligibility for a tribe to participate in the 

program. A Negotiated Rulemaking to 

implement this program in consultation 

with tribal representatives and other 

interested stakeholders is under 

development. 

The funds set aside for the TTP are 

not meant to replace or reduce funds 

that Indian tribes receive from States 

through the Formula Grants for Rural 

Areas program but are to be used to 

enhance public transportation on Indian 

reservations and transit serving tribal 

communities. Funds allocated to Indian 

tribes by the States may be included in 

the State’s Formula Grants for Rural 

Areas program application or maybe 

awarded by FTA in a grant directly to 

the Indian tribe. FTA encourages Indian 

tribes intending to apply to FTA as 

direct recipients to contact the 

appropriate FTA Regional Office at the 

earliest opportunity. 

All TTP grantees must comply with 

all applicable Federal statutes, 

regulations, executive orders, FTA 

circulars, and other Federal 

requirements in carrying out the project 

supported by the FTA grant. To assist 

tribes with understanding these 

requirements, FTA regularly conducts 

Tribal Transit Technical Assistance 

Workshops. FTA has also expanded its 

technical assistance to tribes receiving 

funds under this program. In FY 2015, 

FTA implemented the Tribal Transit 

Technical Assistance Assessments 

initiative. Through these assessments, 

FTA collaborates with tribal transit 

leaders to review processes and identify 

areas in need of improvement and then 

assist with solutions to address these 

needs—all in a supportive and mutually 

beneficial manner. These assessments 

include discussions of compliance areas 

pursuant to the Master Agreement, a site 

visit, promising practices reviews, and 

technical assistance from FTA and its 

contractors. FTA will post information 

about upcoming workshops to its 

website and will disseminate 

information about the reviews through 


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its Regional offices. FTA has regional 

tribal transit liaisons in each of the FTA 

Regional Offices that are available to 

assist tribes with applying for and 

managing FTA grants. Tribes are 

encouraged to work directly with their 

regional tribal transit liaison. 

J. Public Transportation Innovation (49 

U.S.C. 5312) 

Public Transportation Innovation is 

FTA’s research program with the 

overarching statutory goal to improve 

public transportation. The law specifies 

research focus areas, including 

providing more effective and efficient 

public transportation service; mobility 

management; system capacity; advanced 

vehicle design; asset maintenance; 

construction and project management; 

environment and energy efficiency; and 

safety improvements. FTA may make 

grants, enter contracts, cooperative 

agreements, and other agreements to 

carry out the research, development, 

demonstration, and deployment 

projects, including research and 

technology of national significance to 

public transportation. 

Within this section are three distinct 

programs: (a) A Research, Development, 

Demonstration, Deployment, & 

Evaluation program (49 U.S.C. 5312(be)); (b) a Low or No Emission Vehicle 

Component Assessment Program (LoNoCAP) (49 U.S.C. 5312(h)); and (c) a 

Transit Cooperative Research Program 

(49 U.S.C. 5312(i)). Eligible recipients 

can be departments, agencies, and 

governmental agencies, including 

Federal Laboratories; state and local 

entities; providers of public 

transportation; private or non-profit 

organizations; institutions of higher 

education; and technical community 

colleges—each program area has 

specific requirements relating to the 

type of organization that may receive a 

grant or enter an agreement. 

The types of research eligible for 

funding are broad, and include 

opportunities to enhance public 

transportation operational effectiveness 

and efficiency; improve services; 

leverage new types of vehicle 

technologies; utilize transformative 

technologies to improve public 

transportation; field new mobility 

models; and support increased safety. 

For more information about the Public 

Transportation Innovation program, 

contact Edwin Rodriguez, Office of 

Research, Demonstration and 

Innovation at (202) 366–0671 or 

edwin.rodriguez@dot.gov. 

For more information on the LoNoCAP program, please contact Sam 

Yimer at (202) 366–1321 or 

samuel.yimer@dot.gov or visit: https://

www.transit.dot.gov/researchinnovation/lonocap. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes $28 

million in contract authority for FY 

2018 for the Public Transportation 

Innovation program and an $20 million 

subject to congressional additional 

appropriations. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $28,000,000 

is for the Public Transportation 

Innovation program. The total amounts 

apportioned to each subcomponent of 

the program is shown below in the 

table. 

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION INNOVATION

PROGRAM

Research, Development, 

Demonstration, Deployment, & Evaluation ............ $20,000,000 

Low or No Emission Vehicle 

Component Testing ........... 3,000,000 

Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) ... 5,000,000 

Total Apportioned .............. 28,000,000 

3. Basis for Allocation 

Public Transportation Innovation 

funds are allocated according to the 

authorized purposes and amounts 

described above, and then remaining 

amounts are subject to competitive 

allocations where not specifically 

authorized. The Secretary may make 

grants and enter contracts, cooperative 

agreements, and other agreements for 

research, development, demonstration, 

and deployment projects, and 

evaluation of research and technology of 

national significance to public 

transportation, that the Secretary 

determines will improve public 

transportation. For FY 2018, FTA 

intends to fund projects and activities 

consistent with its research priorities of 

mobility innovation, infrastructure, and 

safety. Projects may be selected through 

Notices of Funding Opportunity 

(NOFO), or Requests for Proposals 

(RFPs), or sole-sourced. FTA awards to 

a diverse set of recipients and issues 

different types of research agreements, 

including grants, cooperative 

agreements, contracts, or interagency 

agreements. Potential recipients can 

register to receive notification of 

funding availability under this program 

on Grants.gov. 

FTA awards an annual cooperative 

agreement to the National Academies of 

Science to administer the TCRP. FTA 

solicited proposals for the LoNo-CAP in 

Fall 2016. Awards were made to Auburn 

University and The Ohio State 

University in September 2017 for $1.5 

million each. Both facilities expect to 

begin testing in the late December 2018/ 

January 2019 timeframe. 

Per the statute, FTA only considered 

proposals from ‘‘institutions of higher 

education’’ as defined in section 1002 of 

title 20, U.S.C., the Higher Education 

Act of 1965. Eligible institution(s) of 

higher education must have capacity to 

carry out transportation-related 

advanced component testing and 

evaluation, with laboratories capable of 

testing and evaluation, and direct access 

to or a partnership with a testing facility 

capable of emulating real-world 

circumstances to test low or no emission 

components. 

LoNo-CAP differs from the Bus 

Testing Program (Section 5318) in that 

LoNo-CAP testing is voluntary with a 

50/50 shared fee structure (FTA pays 50 

percent of the testing fees, the entity 

requesting the testing pays 50 percent of 

the fees). Additionally, LoNo-CAP will 

only test components, and it will not 

assign passing or failing scores. The 

LONO component testing performed 

under LoNo-CAP complements the 

Section 5318 Bus Testing Program, 

under which FTA will continue to test 

complete buses as a condition of 

eligibility for FTA grant funding. 

Eligible activities under LoNo-CAP 

include testing and assessing 

voluntarily submitted LoNo components 

for transit buses, publishing the results 

of these LoNo component assessments, 

and preparing an annual report to 

Congress summarizing the results of the 

component assessments. For more 

information on the LoNo-CAP program, 

visit https://www.transit.dot.gov/ 

research-innovation/lonocap. 

Requirements 

Eligible expenses include activities 

involving (a) research, innovation, 

development, demonstration, 

deployment, evaluation; (b) low or no 

emission vehicle component testing; 

and (c) transit cooperative research. 

The Federal share of the cost of a 

project carried out under FTA’s 

Research, Innovation, Development, 

Deployment, and Demonstration 

program shall not exceed 80 percent; the 

remaining 20 percent of the costs can be 

met with in-kind resources. In some 

cases, FTA may require a higher nonFederal share if FTA determines a 

recipient would obtain a clear and 

direct financial benefit from the project, 

or if the non-Federal share is an 

evaluation factor under a competitive 

selection process. 


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However, for the LoNo-CAP, the 

Government share is 50 percent; the 

remaining 50 percent of the costs will be 

paid by amounts recovered through the 

fees established by the testing facilities. 

There is no match requirement for the 

TCRP. 

Application instructions and program 

management guidelines are set forth in 

FTA Circular C 6100.1E, Technology 

Development and Deployment, 

‘‘Research, Technical Assistance and 

Training Program: Application 

Instructions and Program Management 

Guidelines’’ dated May 11, 2015. 

All research recipients are required to 

work with FTA to develop approved 

Statements of Work. FTA will be 

updating the Circular for the Research 

Program. 

4. Period of Availability 

FTA establishes the period in which 

the funds must be obligated to each 

project. If the funds are not obligated 

within that period of time, they revert 

to FTA for reallocation under the 

program. 

5. Other Program Information 

FTA publishes an annual Research 

Report on projects, evaluations, and 

benefits of its research portfolio. The 

FY2017 report can be accessed on FTA’s 

website at https://www.transit.dot.gov/ 

research-innovation/fta-reports-andpublications. Section 6019(b) of the 

FAST Act establishes new requirements 

for annual modal research plans in 49 

U.S.C. 6501. 

For the new LoNo-CAP (5312(h)), 

FTA solicited proposals in Fall 2016, 

finalized selections, and made two 

awards in 2017. LoNo-CAP differs from 

the Bus Testing Program (Section 5318) 

in that LoNo-CAP testing is voluntary; it 

will only test components, and it will 

not assign passing or failing scores. The 

LoNo component testing performed 

under LoNo-CAP complements the 

Section 5318 Bus Testing Program, 

under which FTA will continue to test 

complete buses as a condition of 

eligibility for FTA grant funding. 

Eligible activities under LoNo-CAP 

include testing and assessing 

voluntarily submitted Lo-No 

components for transit buses, 

publishing the results of these LoNo 

component assessments, and preparing 

an annual report to Congress 

summarizing the results of the 

component assessments. 

TCRP is a cooperative effort of three 

organizations: FTA; the National 

Academies, acting through the 

Transportation Research Board (TRB); 

and the Transit Development 

Corporation, Inc. (TDC), a nonprofit 

educational and research organization 

established by the American Public 

Transportation Association (APTA). 

FTA funds the TCRP through a 

cooperative agreement. The TCRP is 

governed by an independent board, the 

TCRP Oversight and Project Selection 

(TOPS) Committee. The TOPS 

Committee sets priorities to decide what 

research studies will be undertaken and 

annually selects projects. The FY 2018 

selected projects can be found at http:// 

onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/ 

docs/TCRP_AnnounceFY2018.pdf. 

For more information about TCRP, 

please contact Faith Hall at (202) 366– 

9055 or faith.hall@dot.gov. 

Pursuant to the Small Business 

Innovation Development Act, a portion 

of the 5312 funds must be set aside for 

the Department’s Small Business 

Innovation Research Program (SBIR) to 

address high priority research that will 

demonstrate innovative, economic, 

accurate, and durable technologies, 

devices, applications, or solutions to 

significantly improve current transitrelated service, including transit vehicle 

operation, safety, infrastructure and 

environmental sustainability, mobility, 

rider experience, or broadband 

communication. Information on current 

and past SBIR projects can be found on 

the DOT SBIR website: https://

www.volpe.dot.gov/work-with-us/smallbusiness-innovation-research. 

K. Technical Assistance and Workforce 

Development (49 U.S.C. 5314) 

The Technical Assistance and 

Workforce Development program, 49 

U.S.C. 5314, has three types of 

programs: Technical assistance and 

standards development; human 

resources and training; and the National 

Transit Institute. FTA funds projects 

across these areas to achieve statutory 

goals to assist the public transportation 

industry to more effectively and 

efficiently provide public transportation 

service; development standards and best 

practices; provide specific technical 

assistance in several areas, including 

complying with the Americans with 

Disabilities Act and human services 

transportation coordination as well as 

meeting the transportation needs of 

older adults. Key focus areas for human 

resources and training are employment 

training; outreach to aid in recruiting 

public transportation workers, 

especially to increase employment for 

certain targeted groups; frontline 

workforce development; and advanced 

training for new and emerging 

technology areas such as low and no 

emission bus maintenance. The 

National Transit Institute’s goal is to 

develop and conduct training and 

educational programs for Federal, State, 

and local transportation employees and 

others engaged in public transportation 

work. 

For more information or questions 

about the Technical Assistance and 

Workforce Development programs, 

please contact Edwin Rodriguez, Office 

of Research, Demonstration, and 

Innovation at (202) 366–0671 or 

edwin.rodriguez@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal Transit law authorizes $9 

million in contract authority for the 

Technical Assistance and Workforce 

Development Program and an additional 

$5 million subject to congressional 

appropriations. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $14 million is 

for the Technical Assistance and 

Workforce Development program as 

shown in the table below. 

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Total Appropriation available $14,000,000 

Total Appropriated ................ 14,000,000 

3. Basis for Allocation 

Under the Technical Assistance and 

Workforce Development Program, funds 

are available for the NTI and to support 

the FTA and USDOT strategic plan for 

technical assistance, standards 

development, and workforce 

development. Projects may be selected 

through sole source, Notices of Funding 

Opportunity (NOFO) or Requests for 

Proposals (RFPs). Potential recipients 

can register to receive notification of 

funding availability under this program 

on Grants.gov. Once selected, FTA 

enters cooperative agreements, grants, 

contracts, or other agreements to award 

funds and manage the projects carried 

out under this section. 

4. Requirements 

Eligible expenses include activities 

involving: (a) Technical assistance; (b) 

standards development; and (c) human 

resources and training, including 

workforce development programs and 

activities. Eligible technical assistance 

activities may include activities to 

support: (a) Compliance with the ADA; 

(b) compliance with coordinating 

planning and human services 

transportation; (c) meeting the 

transportation needs of elderly 

individuals; (d) increasing transit 

ridership in coordination with MPOs 

and other entities, particularly around 


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transit-oriented development; (e) 

addressing transportation equity with 

regard to the effect that transportation 

planning, investment, and operations 

have for low-income and minority 

individuals; (f) facilitating best practices 

to promote bus driver safety; (g) 

compliance with Buy America 

requirements and pre- and post-award 

audits; (h) assisting with the 

development and deployment of low 

and no emission vehicles or 

components for vehicles; (i) and other 

technical assistance activities that are 

necessary to advance the interests of 

public transportation. 

Eligible standards development 

activities include the development of 

voluntary and consensus-based 

standards and best practices by the 

industry including those needed for 

safety, fare collection, intelligent 

transportation systems, accessibility, 

procurement, security, asset 

management, operations, maintenance, 

vehicle propulsion, communications, 

and vehicle electronics. 

Eligible human resources and training 

activities include (a) employment 

training programs; (b) outreach 

programs to increase employment for 

veterans, females, individuals with 

disabilities, and minorities in public 

transportation; (c) research on public 

transportation personnel and training 

needs; (d) training and assistance for 

veteran and minority business 

opportunities; and (e) consensus-based 

national training standards and 

certifications in partnership with 

industry stakeholders. FTA funding 

directly allocated for these eligible 

purposes must be done through a 

competitive frontline workforce 

development program as required by 

Section 5314. Should FTA allocate 

funds for these purposes, it will 

advertise the available funding in a 

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) 

on Grants.gov and on its website. In the 

meantime, recipients of funds under 

Sections 5307, 5337, and 5339 may use 

0.5 percent of their available funds to 

pay for workforce development 

activities (up to an 80 percent Federal 

share). There is a separate eligibility to 

use 0.5 percent of available funds under 

the sections above for training at the 

National Transit Institute. 

The Government’s share of the cost of 

a project carried out using a grant under 

this section shall not exceed 80 percent. 

However, for the human resources and 

training, including the Innovative 

Public Transportation Frontline 

Workforce Development Program, the 

Government’s share cannot exceed 50 

percent. The Federal share for other 

types of awards will be stated in the 

agreement. In some cases, FTA may 

require a higher non-Federal share if 

FTA determines a recipient would 

obtain a clear and direct financial 

benefit from the project, or if the nonFederal share is an evaluation factor 

under a competitive selection process. 

The non-Government share of the cost 

of a project carried out under these 

sections (Technical Assistance and 

Standards and Technical Assistance and 

Training) may be derived from in-kind 

contributions as defined in the most 

current version of FTA Circular 5010, 

‘‘Award Management Guidelines’’ found 

on FTA’s Circular web page at http://

www.fta.dot.gov/circulars. Application 

instructions and program management 

guidelines are set forth in FTA Circular 

6100.1E, ‘‘Research, Technical 

Assistance and Training Programs: 

Application Instructions and Program 

Management Guidelines’’ dated May 11, 

2015. 

All recipients of Section 5314 funds 

are required to work with FTA to 

develop approved statements of work. 

There is no match requirement for the 

National Transit Institute. 

5. Period of Availability 

FTA establishes the period in which 

the funds must be obligated to each 

project. If the funds are not obligated 

within that time, they revert to FTA for 

reallocation under the program. 

However, the $5 million of general 

funds for technical assistance and 

training funds appropriated by congress 

in the consolidated appropriations Act, 

2018 must be obligated by September 

30, 2018 or no longer available and 

returned to the U.S. Treasury. 

6. Other Program Information 

FTA publishes an annual report to 

Congress on the technical assistance and 

standards activities that receive 

assistance under this section. 

Additionally, FTA must report annually 

on the Frontline Workforce 

Development Program. FTA reports can 

be found on FTA’s web page at 

www.transit.dot.gov. 

L. Public Transportation Emergency 

Relief Program (49 U.S.C. 5324) 

FTA’s Emergency Relief (ER) Program 

is authorized to provide funding for 

public transportation expenses incurred 

because of an emergency or major 

disaster. The Further Additional 

Supplemental Appropriations for 

Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2018 

(Division B, Subdivision 1 of Pub. L. 

115–123) provides $330 million for this 

program for transit systems affected by 

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in 

2017. FTA will provide more 

information about the allocation of these 

funds under a separate Federal Register 

notice. 

Funds appropriated for this program 

are used to assist in responding to a 

publicly declared emergency or disaster. 

Eligible expenses include emergency 

operating expenses, such as 

evacuations, rescue operations, and 

expenses incurred to protect assets in 

advance of a disaster, as well as capital 

projects to protect, repair, reconstruct, 

or replace equipment and facilities of a 

public transportation system that the 

Secretary determines is in danger of 

suffering serious damage or has suffered 

serious damage because of an 

emergency. Additionally, transit 

agencies in the affected areas may 

request relief from certain FTA 

administrative and regulatory 

requirements for costs incurred in 

support of evacuations, rescue efforts, 

and the efficient shut down and 

resumption of transit services during 

and after the storm. Requests for relief 

from these requirements may be 

submitted to FTA’s Emergency Relief 

Docket at https://www.regulations.gov/. 

The docket number for calendar year 

2018 is FTA–2018–0001. 

FTA also encourages transit agencies 

in affected areas to become familiar with 

FTA’s Emergency Relief Program 

Manual, available at transit.dot.gov/ 

emergencyrelief. When funding is made 

available by Congress through FTA’s 

Emergency Relief Program, or at FEMA’s 

direction, FTA will work with agencies 

to assess the impacts of the storm, 

including emergency operations and 

any potential damages to transit rolling 

stock or facilities. 

Recipients of FTA funding affected by 

a declared emergency or disaster are 

also authorized to use funds 

apportioned under Sections 5307 and 

5311 for emergency purposes under the 

provisions of FTA’s Emergency Relief 

Program. Recipients are advised that 

formula funds disbursed to a grantee for 

emergency purposes will not be 

replaced or restored if funding is 

subsequently made available through 

FTA under the ER Program or by the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA). 

In the event of a disaster affecting a 

public transportation system, the 

affected recipient should contact its 

FTA Regional Office as soon as 

practicable to determine whether 

Emergency Relief Program funds are 

available, and to notify FTA that it plans 

to seek reimbursement for emergency 

operations and/or repairs that have 

already taken place or are in process. If 

Emergency Relief funds are unavailable, 

the recipient may seek reimbursement 


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from FEMA. Properly documented costs 

for which the grantee has not received 

reimbursement from FEMA may later be 

reimbursed by grants made either from 

Emergency Relief Program funding (if 

appropriated) or from Sections 5307 and 

5311 program funding, once the eligible 

recipient formally applies to FTA for 

reimbursement and FTA determines 

that the expenses are eligible for 

emergency relief. 

More information on the Emergency 

Relief Program and FTA’s response to 

Hurricane Sandy is available on the 

FTA website at https://

www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grantprograms/emergency-relief-program/ 

emergency-relief-program. For more 

information or questions on this 

program, please contact John Bodnar at 

(202) 366–9091 or john.bodnar@dot.gov. 

M. State Safety Oversight Formula 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5329) 

The State Safety Oversight Formula 

Program provides funding to support 

States with rail fixed guideway public 

transportation systems (rail transit 

systems) to develop and carry out State 

Safety Oversight (SSO) Programs 

consistent with the requirements of 49 

U.S.C. 5329. Federal transit law requires 

States with rail transit systems operating 

within their jurisdictions to establish a 

State Safety Oversight (SSO) program 

that must be certified by the Federal 

Transit Administration (FTA) by April 

15, 2019. The FTA is prohibited by law 

from awarding any funds to any transit 

agency within a State that fails to obtain 

certification by the deadline. The FTA 

recommends that States submit their 

complete SSO program certification 

applications no later than September 30, 

2018. For more information on the 

certification requirements, please visit 

the FTA Web: www.transit.dot.gov/ 

regulations-and-guidance/safety/transitsafety-oversight-tso. 

For more information or questions on 

the Public Transportation Safety 

program, please contact Maria Wright at 

(202) 366–5922 or maria1.wright@

dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes 

$23,634,536 in FY 2018 to provide 

funding to support States in developing 

and carrying out the SSO Program. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $23,634,536 

is available for the State Safety 

Oversight (SSO) Formula program as 

shown in the table below. 

STATE SAFETY OVERSIGHT FORMULA

PROGRAM

Total Appropriation available $23,634,536 

Total Appropriated ................ 23,634,536 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

FTA will continue to allocate funds to 

the States by an administrative formula, 

which is detailed in the Federal 

Register notice apportioning SSO 

Formula Grant Program FY 2013 and FY 

2014 funds (Mar. 10, 2014). Grant funds 

for the SSO program are apportioned to 

eligible States using a three-tier formula 

based on statutory requirements, which 

apportion sixty percent (60 percent) of 

available funds based on rail transit 

system passenger miles (PMT), vehicle 

revenue miles (VRM), and directional 

route miles (DRM), twenty percent (20 

percent) of available funds equally to 

each eligible State, and twenty percent 

(20 percent) based on the number of rail 

transit systems in each state. 

4. Requirements 

FTA requires each applicant to 

demonstrate in its grant application that 

its proposed grant activities will 

develop, lead to, or carry out a State 

Safety Oversight program that meets the 

requirements under 49 U.S.C. 5329(e). 

Grant funds may be used for program 

operational and administrative 

expenses, including employee training 

activities. Please see the Federal 

Register notice which apportioned SSO 

Formula Grant Program FY 2013 and FY 

2014 funds (79 FR 13380, Mar. 10, 2014) 

for more information. 

5. Period of Availability 

SSO Formula Grant Program funds are 

available for the year of apportionment 

plus two additional years. Any FY 2018 

funds that remain unobligated at the 

close of business on September 30, 2020 

will revert to FTA for reapportionment 

under the SSO Formula Grant Program. 

6. Other Program Information 

Section 5329 authorizes FTA to 

temporarily assume oversight of a rail 

transit safety system, under certain 

circumstances. FTA also has the 

authority to issue restrictions and 

prohibitions to address unsafe 

conditions or practices. On August 11, 

2016, FTA published a final rule to set 

procedures for FTA’s administration of 

the Public Transportation Safety 

Program. The final rule provides 

procedures whereby FTA may: (1) 

Require a recipient to use Chapter 53 

funds to correct safety violations 

identified by the Administrator or a 

State Safety Oversight Agency before 

such funds are used for any other 

purpose, or (2) withhold up to 25 

percent of funds apportioned under 49 

U.S.C. 5307 from a recipient when the 

Administrator has evidence that the 

recipient has engaged in a pattern or 

practice of serious safety violations, or 

has otherwise refused to comply with 

the Public Transportation Safety 

Program, or any regulation or directive 

issued under those laws for which the 

Administrator exercises enforcement 

authority for safety. 

N. State of Good Repair Program (49 

U.S.C. 5337) 

The State of Good Repair Program 

provides financial assistance to 

designated recipients in Urbanized 

Areas (UZAs) with fixed guideway and 

high intensity motorbus systems for 

capital investments that maintain, 

rehabilitate, and replace aging transit 

assets and bring fixed guideway and 

high intensity motorbus systems into a 

state of good repair. FTA apportions 

funds for this program through a 

statutory formula using data reported to 

the National Transit Database (NTD). 

For more information or questions on 

the State of Good Repair program, 

please contact Eric Hu at (202) 366– 

0870 or eric.hu@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes 

$2,593,703,558 in FY 2018 for the State 

of Good Repair Program. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, 

$2,993,703,558 is for the State of Good 

Repair Program. This amount includes 

additional funds appropriated in the 

amount of $400 million. The total 

amount apportioned is $2,963,766,522 

after the deduction for oversight as 

shown in the table below. 

STATE OF GOOD REPAIR PROGRAM

Total Appropriation available ................................. $2,993,703,558 

Oversight Deduction ........... (29,937,036) 

Total Apportioned ............ 2,963,766,522 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

FTA apportions State of Good Repair 

Program funds per a statutory formula. 

Funds are apportioned to urbanized 

areas with fixed guideway or high 

intensity motorbus systems that have 

been in operation for at least seven 

years. This means that only segments of 

fixed guideway and high intensity 

motorbus systems that entered revenue 

service on or before September 30, 2010 


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are included in the formula, as 

identified in the NTD. Funds 

apportioned to urbanized areas with 

fixed guideway are determined by two 

equal elements: (1) A fixed proportion, 

based on the proportion an urbanized 

area would have received in FY 2011 to 

the total amount apportioned to all 

urbanized areas in the FY 2011 Fixed 

Guideway Modernization program using 

the fixed guideway definition defined in 

prior law; and (2) a variable proportion, 

based on the proportion of vehicle 

revenue miles and directional route 

miles attributed to an urbanized area 

relative to all urbanized areas, with 

revenue miles weighted for 60 percent 

of this element and directional miles 

weighted for 40 percent of this element. 

Funds apportioned to urbanized areas 

with motorbus systems are 60 percent 

based on revenue miles and 40 percent 

based on route miles that attributed to 

an urbanized area relative to all 

urbanized areas. The fixed guideway 

tier is apportioned 97.15 percent of the 

total appropriation, and the remaining 

2.85 percent is apportioned to the highintensity motorbus tier. 

4. Requirements 

In addition to the program guidance 

found in the FTA Circular 5300.1, 

‘‘State of Good Repair Grants Program: 

Guidance and application Instructions,’’ 

all recipients must comply with the 

regulation at 49 CFR part 625, issued 

under the authority of Section 5326 for 

the Transit Asset Management plan 

(TAM). 

5. Period of Availability 

The State of Good Repair Program 

funds apportioned in this notice are 

available for obligation during FY 2018 

plus three additional years. 

Accordingly, funds apportioned in FY 

2018 must be obligated in grants by 

September 30, 2021. Any FY 2018 

apportioned funds that remain 

unobligated at the close of business on 

September 30, 2021 will revert to FTA 

for reappointment under the State of 

Good Repair Program. 

6. Other Program Information 

In July 2016, FTA published a Final 

Rule (49 CFR part 625) for Transit Asset 

Management (81 FR 48890, July 26, 

2016). Grantees must have a TAM plan 

in place by October 1, 2018. Beginning 

in FY 2019 all projects funded under the 

State of Good Repair Program must 

appear in the investment prioritization 

of the grantee’s TAM plan. 

O. Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities 

Program (49 U.S.C. 5339) 

The Grants for Buses and Bus 

Facilities Program provides financial 

assistance to states, local governmental 

entities that operate fixed route bus 

service, and designated recipients for 

capital investments in public 

transportation systems to replace, 

rehabilitate, lease, and purchase buses 

and related equipment and to construct 

bus-related facilities, including 

technological changes or innovations to 

modify low or no emission vehicles or 

facilities. Funding is provided through 

Section 5339(a) formula allocations and 

Section 5339(b) competitive grants. A 

sub-program, the Section 5339(c) Lowor No-Emission Vehicle Program, 

provides competitive grants for bus and 

bus facility projects that support low 

and zero-emission vehicles. 

For more information or questions on 

the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities 

Formula Program, please contact John 

Bodnar at (202) 366–9091 or 

john.bodnar@dot.gov. For information 

or questions regarding the competitive 

Buses and Bus Facilities Infrastructure 

Investment Program please contact 

Mark G. Bathrick at (202) 366–9955 or 

mark.bathrick@dot.gov. For information 

or questions regarding the competitive 

Low or No Emissions Grant Program, 

contact Tara Clark at (202) 366–2623 or 

tara.clark@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes, 

$445,519,476 for the formula program, 

$246,514,000 for the Bus competitive 

program, and $55,000,000 for the Low 

or No Emissions program in FY 2018 to 

provide financial assistance for the 

Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities 

Program. 

2. Funding Availability 

In FY 2018 under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $654,623,476 

is available for the Grants for Buses and 

Bus Facilities Formula Program, 

$84,450,000 for the Low or No Emission 

Grants (competitive) Program, and 

$407,960,000 for the Grants for Buses 

and Bus Facilities (competitive) 

Program. These amounts represent 

additional funds appropriated in the 

amount of $209,104,000; $29,450,000; 

and $161,446,000, respectively. The 

amounts apportioned after the 0.75 

percent take-down for oversight are 

shown in the table below. 

Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities 

(Formula) 

Total Appropriation (Formula) 

available ............................ $654,623,476 

Oversight Deduction ............. (4,909,676) 

Total Apportioned (Formula) .............................. $649,713,800 

Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities 

(Low or No Emission (Competitive)) 

Total Appropriation (Low or 

No Emission) available ..... $84,450,000 

Total to be Allocated (Low or 

No Emission) ..................... $84,450,000 

Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities 

(Bus Competitive) 

Total Appropriation (Bus 

Competitive) available ....... 492,410,000 

Oversight Deduction ............. (3,693,075) 

Low or No Emission Grants 

(Competitive) ..................... (84,450,000) 

Allocation to Projects under 

FY 2017 Competition (April 

5, 2018) ............................. (37,973,775) 

Total to be Allocated (Bus 

Competition) .................. $366,293,150 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

Section 5339(a) Buses and Bus 

Facilities Program formula funds are 

apportioned to States, territories, and 

designated recipients based on a 

statutory formula. Under the National 

Distribution, each State is allocated $3.5 

million and each territory is allocated 

$1 million for use anywhere in the State 

or territory for fiscal years 2018. The 

remainder of the available funding is 

then apportioned to UZAs based on 

population, vehicle revenue miles, and 

passenger miles using the same 

apportionment formula and allocation 

process as the Urbanized Area Formula 

Program. Funds for UZAs under 200,000 

in population are apportioned to the 

State for allocation to eligible recipients 

within such areas of the State at the 

Governor’s discretion. Funds for UZAs 

with populations of 200,000 or more are 

apportioned directly to one or more 

designated recipient(s) within each UZA 

for allocation to eligible projects and 

recipients within the UZA. 

FTA allocates funds under the 

competitive Section 5339(b) and 5339(c) 

programs on an annual basis based on 

a notice of funding opportunity, which 

contains detailed guidance on applicant 

eligibility, project eligibility, evaluation 

criteria, and application requirements. 

4. Requirements 

Eligible recipients for Section 5339(a) 

formula grants include: (1) designated 

recipients that allocate funds to fixed 

route bus operators, and (2) States and 

local governmental entities that operate 

fixed route bus service. Eligible 

subrecipients include public agencies or 

private nonprofit organizations engaged 


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in public transportation, including those 

providing services open to a segment of 

the general public as defined by age, 

disability, or low income. The definition 

of eligible recipients applies to funding 

apportioned in previous fiscal years that 

remain available for obligation. The 

requirements of the Urbanized Area 

Formula Program apply to recipients of 

Section 5339 funds within an urbanized 

area. The requirements of Formula 

Grants for Rural Areas program apply to 

recipients of Section 5339 funds within 

rural areas. 

Under prior law, only designated 

recipients were eligible direct recipients 

of Section 5339(a) funds. Given that 

State and local government entities that 

operate fixed route service are now 

eligible direct recipients of Section 

5339(a) funds, FTA does not require 

designated recipients to maintain 

program management plans (PMPs) if 

they do not manage any sub-awards of 

Section 5339 funds. 

For additional program requirements, 

refer to FTA Circular 5100, ‘‘Buses and 

Bus Facilities Formula Program: 

Guidance and Application 

Instructions.’’ 

5. Period of Availability 

The Bus and Bus Facilities Program 

formula funds apportioned in this 

notice are available for obligation during 

FY 2018 plus three additional years. 

Accordingly, funds apportioned in FY 

2018 must be obligated in grants by 

September 30, 2021. Any FY 2018 

apportioned funds that remain 

unobligated at the close of business on 

September 30, 2021 will revert to FTA 

for reapportionment under the Buses 

and Bus Facilities Formula Program. 

Competitive program funds authorized 

under Sections 5339(b) and 5339(c) 

follow the same period of availability 

and reapportionment policy. 

6. Other Program Information 

Although it does not provide 

additional funding, as authorized under 

Section 5339(a)(9), FTA has established 

a pilot program to allow designated 

recipients in urbanized areas between 

200,000 and 1 million in population to 

elect to pool their Buses and Bus 

Facilities Program formula allocations 

with other designated recipients within 

their respective states. The purpose of 

this provision is to allow for the transfer 

of formula funding within a State in a 

manner that supports the transit asset 

management plans of the participating 

designated recipients. A State that 

intends to participate in this pilot 

program beginning in FY 2019 (October 

1, 2018) must submit a request to 

establish a State Pool to its FTA 

Regional Office by August 31, 2018. The 

request must identify the urbanized 

areas that will participate in the pool for 

FY 2019, and must include a letter from 

each urbanized area’s participating 

designated recipient, and from any 

affected eligible recipients of Section 

5339(a) funds within the urbanized area, 

indicating their intention to participate 

in this pooling provision for FY 2019. 

An urbanized area that participates in a 

State Pool must contribute its entire 

Section 5339(a) apportionment for the 

fiscal years in which it participates in 

the pool. For a multi-state area, 

designated recipient for a multistate 

area may participate in only one State 

Pool. FY 2019 is the last year that a 

State may establish a State Pool. For FY 

2019, the request must specify the 

proposed distribution of the pooled 

funding and must provide a detailed 

explanation of how this distribution 

will support the transit asset 

management plans of each participating 

designated recipient, including any 

eligible recipients to which the 

designated recipient will allocate 

funding. Upon approval, FTA will make 

the requested amounts of program 

funding available to the urbanized areas 

as directed in the request. A State that 

elects to participate in this pilot 

program will be required to develop an 

allocation plan for the period of fiscal 

years 2019 and 2020 that ensures that a 

designated recipient participating in the 

State’s pool receives under the program 

an amount of funds that equals the 

amount of funds that would have 

otherwise been available to the 

designated recipient for that period 

pursuant to the formulas provided. The 

amounts in the State Pool will be 

apportioned separately from funds 

apportioned to the State under the 

Governor’s Apportionment for 

urbanized areas under 200,000 in 

population, and will be made available 

directly by FTA to the participating 

urbanized areas, as directed in the 

approved allocation plan. An allocation 

plan may be revised for future fiscal 

years, if it remains compliant with the 

requirement to ensure equity over the 

period the pool is in effect. Approved 

requests to establish a State Pool for the 

specified UZAs will remain in effect 

until cancelled at the request of the 

State or one or more designated 

recipients. If a State or designated 

recipient elects to end its participation 

in this pooling provision in any future 

fiscal year, FTA will adjust the formula 

allocations so that the total amount that 

each affected urbanized area has 

received over the fiscal years in which 

it participated, plus the following 

apportionment, equals the amount it 

would have received over this period 

had it not participated in the State pool. 

Adjustments will be made using the 

formula apportionment factors used for 

each of the affected fiscal years. After 

the pools are determined, FTA will 

publish a supplementary table showing 

the participating UZAs, the State total, 

and the amounts for each UZA for FY 

2019. In future years, the States must 

provide the amounts determined by 

August 31 (in an updated allocation 

plan), so that FTA can publish the 

breakdowns and make the funds 

available in the Apportionment Notice. 

P. Growing States and High Density 

States Formula Factors (49 U.S.C. 5340) 

Federal transit law authorizes the use 

of formula factors to distribute 

additional funds to the Section 5307 

Urbanized Area Formula program and 

Section 5311 Formula Grants for Rural 

Areas program programs for growing 

states and high density states. FTA will 

continue to publish single urbanized 

and rural apportionments that show the 

total amount for Section 5307 and 5311 

programs that includes Section 5340 

apportionments for these programs. 

For more information or questions on 

this program, please contact Tara Clark 

at (202) 366–2623 or tara.clark@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Federal transit law authorizes 

$552,783,547 for apportionment in FY 

2018 for the Growing States and High 

Density States Formula factors. 

2. FY 2018 Funding Availability 

Under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $582,783,547 

is for the Growing States and High 

Density States formula. This amount 

represents additional appropriated 

funds in the amount of $30 million. 

GROWING STATES AND HIGH DENSITY

STATES FORMULA FACTORS

Growing States ..................... $286,132,747 

High Density States .............. 296,650,800 

Total Apportioned .............. 582,783,547 

3. Basis for Formula Apportionment 

Under the Growing States portion of 

the Section 5340 formula, FTA projects 

each State’s 2025 population by 

comparing each State’s apportionment 

year population (as determined by the 

Census Bureau) to the State’s 2010 

Census population and extrapolating to 

2025 based on each State’s rate of 

population growth between 2010 and 

the apportionment year. Each State 

receives a share of Growing States funds 


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based on its projected 2025 population 

relative to the nationwide projected 

2025 population. 

Once each State’s share is calculated, 

funds attributable to that State are 

divided into an urbanized area 

allocation and a non-urbanized area 

allocation on the basis of the percentage 

of each State’s 2010 Census population 

that resides in urbanized and nonurbanized areas. Urbanized Areas 

receive portions of their State’s 

urbanized area allocation based on the 

2010 Census population in that 

urbanized area relative to the total 2010 

Census population in all urbanized 

areas in the State. These amounts are 

added to the Urbanized Area’s Section 

5307 apportionment. 

The States’ rural area allocation is 

added to the allocation that each State 

receives under the Formula Grants for 

Rural Areas program. 

The High Density States portion of the 

Section 5340 formula are allocated to 

urbanized areas in States with a 

population density equal to or greater 

than 370 persons per square mile. Based 

on this threshold and 2010 Census data, 

the States that qualify are Maryland, 

Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 

Rhode Island, New York and New 

Jersey. The amount of funds provided to 

each of these seven States is allocated 

on the basis of the population density of 

the individual State relative to the 

population density of all seven States. 

Once funds are allocated to each State, 

funds are then allocated to urbanized 

areas within the States based on an 

individual urbanized area’s population 

relative to the population of all 

urbanized areas in that State. 

Q. Washington Metropolitan Area 

Transit Authority Grants 

Section 601 of the Passenger Rail 

Investment and Improvement Act of 

2008 (PRIIA) authorized an aggregate 

amount of $1.5 billion to be available in 

increments over 10 fiscal years 

beginning in fiscal year 2009 to assist 

the Washington Metropolitan Transit 

Authority (WMATA) in implementing 

its Capital Improvement Program and 

preventive maintenance projects. 

For more information or questions on 

the Washington Metropolitan Area 

Transit Authority Grants program, 

please contact Eric Hu at (202) 366– 

0870 or eric.hu@dot.gov or Corey 

Walker at (202) 219–3562 or 

corey.walker@dot.gov. 

1. Authorized Amounts 

Section 601 of PRIIA authorizes 

$150,000,000 in FY 2018. 

2. FY 2107 Funding Availability 

Under the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act, 2018, $150,000,000 

is available. The total amount available 

is $ 148,500,000 after the deduction for 

oversight as shown in the table below. 

WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA

TRANSIT AUTHORITY GRANTS

Total Appropriation available $150,000,000 

Oversight Deduction ............. (1,500,000) 

Total Apportioned .............. 148,500,000 

3. Basis for Allocation 

The funding is authorized under 

Section 601, Authorization for Capital 

and Preventive Maintenance Projects for 

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 

Authority, of the Passenger Rail 

Investment and Improvement Act of 

2008, (Pub. L. 110–432) Division B, Title 

VI. 

4. Requirements 

Grants may be provided for capital 

and preventive maintenance 

expenditures for WMATA after it has 

been determined that WMATA has 

placed the highest priority on 

investments that will improve the safety 

of the system, including, but not 

limited, to fixing the track signal 

system, replacing 1000 series railcars, 

installing guarded turnouts, buying 

equipment for wayside worker 

protection, and installing rollback 

protection on cars that are not equipped 

with the safety feature. FTA will 

communicate further program 

requirements directly to WMATA. The 

maximum Federal share for each project 

shall be for 50 percent of the net project 

cost of the project, and matching funds 

shall be provided in cash from sources 

other than Federal funds or revenues 

from the operation of public 

transportation systems. 

5. Period of Availability 

Funds appropriated for WMATA 

under Section 601 PRIIA shall remain 

available until expended. 

V. FTA Policy and Procedures for FY 

2018 Grants 

A. Automatic Pre-Award Authority To 

Incur Project Costs 

1. Caution to New Grantees 

While FTA provides pre-award 

authority to incur expenses before grant 

award for formula programs, it 

recommends that first-time grant 

recipients NOT utilize this automatic 

pre-award authority without verifying 

with the appropriate FTA Regional 

Office that all pre-requisite 

requirements have been met. 

Commonly, a new grantee may 

misunderstand pre-award authority 

conditions and be unaware of all of the 

applicable FTA requirements that must 

be met in order to be reimbursed for 

project expenditures incurred in 

advance of grant award. FTA programs 

have specific statutory requirements 

that are often different from those for 

other Federal grant programs with 

which new grantees may be familiar. If 

funds are expended for an ineligible 

project or activity, or for an eligible 

activity but at an inappropriate time 

(e.g., prior to NEPA completion), FTA 

will be unable to reimburse the project 

sponsor and, in certain cases, the entire 

project may be rendered ineligible for 

FTA assistance. 

2. Policy 

FTA provides pre-award authority to 

incur expenses before grant award for 

certain program areas described below. 

This pre-award authority allows 

grantees to incur certain project costs 

before grant approval and retain the 

eligibility of those costs for subsequent 

reimbursement after grant approval. The 

grantee assumes all risk and is 

responsible for ensuring that all 

conditions are met to retain eligibility. 

This pre-award spending authority 

permits an eligible grantee to incur costs 

on an eligible transit capital, operating, 

planning, or administrative project 

without prejudice to possible future 

Federal participation in the cost of the 

project. In this notice, FTA provides 

pre-award authority through the 

authorization period of the FAST Act 

(October 1, 2015 through September 30, 

2020) for capital assistance under all 

formula programs, so long as the 

conditions described below are met. 

FTA provides pre-award authority for 

planning and operating assistance under 

the formula programs without regard to 

the period of the authorization. All preaward authority is subject to conditions 

and triggers stated below: 

a. Operating, Planning, or 

Administrative Assistance 

FTA does not impose additional 

conditions on pre-award authority for 

operating, planning, or administrative 

assistance under the formula grant 

programs. Grantees may be reimbursed 

for expenses incurred before grant 

award so long as funds have been 

expended in accordance with all 

Federal requirements, would have been 

allowable if incurred after the date of 

award, and the grantee is otherwise 

eligible to receive the funding. In 

addition to cross-cutting Federal grant 


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requirements, program specific 

requirements must be met. For example, 

a State of Good Repair Formula Grants 

project on or after October 1, 2018 must 

be included in the grantee’s certified 

TAM Plan, a planning project must be 

included in a Unified Planning Work 

Program (UPWP); a Section 5310 project 

be included in a coordinated public 

transit-human services transportation 

plan (coordinated plan) and selected by 

the designated recipient before 

incurring expenses and expenditures on 

State Administration expenses under 

State Administered programs must be 

consistent with the State Management 

Plan (as defined in FTA Circular 

9040.1G, Chapter 6). Designated 

recipients for Section 5310 have preaward authority for the ten percent of 

the apportionment they may use for 

program administration. 

b. Transit Capital Projects 

For transit capital projects, the date 

that costs may be incurred varies 

depending on the type of activity and its 

potential to have a significant impact on 

the human and natural environment as 

described under conditions in section 3 

below. Before an applicant may incur 

costs when pre-award authority has not 

been granted, it must first obtain a 

written Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) 

from FTA. To obtain an LONP, a grantee 

must submit a written request 

accompanied by adequate information 

and justification to the appropriate FTA 

regional office, as described in section 4 

below. 

c. Public Transportation Innovation, 

Technical Assistance and Workforce 

Development 

Unless provided for in an 

announcement of project selections, preaward authority does not apply to 

Public Transportation Innovation 

projects or Section 5314 Technical 

Assistance and Workforce Development 

projects. Before an applicant may incur 

costs for activities under these 

programs, it must first obtain a written 

Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) from 

FTA. To obtain an LONP, a grantee must 

submit a written request accompanied 

by adequate information and 

justification to the appropriate FTA 

headquarters office. Information about 

LONP procedures may be obtained from 

the appropriate headquarters office. 

3. Conditions 

The conditions under which preaward authority may be utilized are 

specified below: 

a. Pre-award authority is not a legal or 

implied commitment that the subject 

project will be approved for FTA 

assistance or that FTA will obligate 

Federal funds. Furthermore, it is not a 

legal or implied commitment that all 

items undertaken by the applicant will 

be eligible for inclusion in the project. 

b. All FTA statutory, procedural, and 

contractual requirements must be met. 

c. No action will be taken by the 

grantee that prejudices the legal and 

administrative findings that the Federal 

Transit Administration must make in 

order to approve a project. 

d. Local funds expended by the 

grantee after the date of the pre-award 

authority will be eligible for credit 

toward local match or reimbursement if 

FTA later makes a grant or grant 

amendment for the project. Local funds 

expended by the grantee before the date 

of the pre-award authority will not be 

eligible for credit toward local match or 

reimbursement. Furthermore, the 

expenditure of local funds or the 

undertaking of certain activities that 

would compromise FTA’s ability to 

comply with Federal environmental 

laws (e.g., project implementation 

activities such as land acquisition, 

demolition, or construction before the 

date of pre-award authority) may render 

the project ineligible for FTA funding. 

e. The Federal amount of any future 

FTA assistance awarded to the grantee 

for the project will be determined based 

on the overall scope of activities and the 

prevailing statutory provisions with 

respect to the Federal/local match ratio 

at the time the funds are obligated. 

f. For funds to which the pre-award 

authority applies, the authority expires 

with the lapsing of the fiscal year funds. 

g. When a grant for the project is 

subsequently awarded, the grant and the 

Federal Financial Report in TrAMS 

must indicate the use of pre-award 

authority. 

h. Environmental Requirements. 

All Federal environmental grant 

requirements must be met at the 

appropriate time for the project to 

remain eligible for Federal funding. 

Designated recipients may incur costs 

for design and environmental review 

activities for all projects from the date 

of the authorization of formula funds or 

the date of the announcement of the 

competitive allocations of funds for the 

project. 

For projects that qualify for a 

categorical exclusion (CE) pursuant to 

23 CFR 771.118(c), designated 

recipients may start activities and incur 

costs for property acquisition, 

demolition, construction, and 

acquisition of vehicles, equipment, or 

construction materials from the date of 

the authorization of formula funds or 

the date of the announcement of the 

competitive allocation of funds for the 

project. FTA recommends that a grant 

applicant considering a (CE) pursuant to 

23 CFR 771.118(c) contact FTA’s 

Regional Office for assistance in 

determining the appropriate 

environmental review process and level 

of documentation necessary before 

incurring costs for property acquisition, 

demolition, construction, and 

acquisition of vehicles, equipment, or 

construction materials. If FTA 

subsequently finds that a project does 

not qualify for this CE, it will be 

ineligible for FTA assistance. FTA 

encourages grant applicants to contact 

FTA’s Regional Office before exercising 

pre-award authority for projects to 

which it believes a CE at 23 CFR 

771.118(c)(8), (9), (10), (12), or (13) 

applies. 

For all other non-Capital Investment 

Grant projects that do not qualify for a 

CE under 23 CFR 771.118(c), grant 

applicants may take action and incur 

costs for property acquisition, 

demolition, construction, and 

acquisition of vehicles, equipment, or 

construction materials from the date 

that FTA completes the environmental 

review process required by NEPA and 

its implementing regulations, 23 U.S.C. 

139, and other environmental laws by 

its issuance of a Section 771.118(d) 

categorical exclusion determination, a 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI), or a Record of Decision (ROD). 

i. Planning and other requirements. 

Formula funds must be authorized or 

appropriated and earmarked project 

allocations published or announced 

before pre-award authority can be 

considered. 

The requirement that a project be 

included in a locally-adopted 

Metropolitan Transportation Plan, the 

metropolitan transportation 

improvement program and federallyapproved statewide transportation 

improvement program (23 CFR part 450) 

must be satisfied before the grantee may 

advance the project beyond planning 

and preliminary design with non-federal 

funds under pre-award authority. If the 

project is located within an EPAdesignated non-attainment or 

maintenance area for air quality, the 

conformity requirements of the Clean 

Air Act, 40 CFR part 93, must also be 

met before the project may be advanced 

into implementation-related activities 

under pre-award authority triggered by 

the completion of the NEPA process. 

For a planning project to have preaward authority, the planning project 

must be included in a MPO-approved 

Unified Planning Work Program 

(UPWP) that has been coordinated with 

the State. 


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j. Federal procurement procedures, as 

well as the whole range of applicable 

Federal requirements (e.g., Buy 

America, Davis-Bacon Act, and 

Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) 

must be followed for projects in which 

Federal funding will be sought in the 

future. Failure to follow any such 

requirements could make the project 

ineligible for Federal funding. In short, 

this increased administrative flexibility 

requires a grantee to make certain that 

no Federal requirements are 

circumvented through the use of preaward authority. 

k. All program specific requirements 

must be met. For example, projects 

under Section 5310 must comply with 

specific program requirements, 

including coordinated planning. 

Before incurring costs, grantees are 

strongly encouraged to consult with the 

appropriate FTA Regional office 

regarding the eligibility of the project for 

future FTA funds and for questions on 

environmental requirements, or any 

other Federal requirements that must be 

met. 

4. Pre-Award Authority for the Fixed 

Guideway Capital Investment Grants 

Program 

Projects proposed for Section 5309 

Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program 

funds are required to follow a multistep, multi-year process defined in law. 

For New Starts and Core Capacity 

projects, this process includes three 

phases: project development (PD), 

engineering, and construction. For 

Small Starts projects, this process 

includes two phases: PD and 

construction. After receiving a letter 

from the project sponsor requesting 

entry into the PD phase, FTA must 

respond in writing within 45 days 

whether the information was sufficient 

for entry. If FTA’s correspondence 

indicates the information was sufficient 

and the New Starts, Small Starts or Core 

Capacity project enters PD, FTA extends 

pre-award authority to the project 

sponsor to incur costs for PD activities. 

PD activities include the work necessary 

to complete the environmental review 

process and as much engineering and 

design activities as the project sponsor 

believes are necessary to support the 

environmental review process. Upon 

completion of the environmental review 

process with a ROD, FONSI, or CE 

determination by FTA for a New Starts, 

Small Starts, or Core Capacity 

Improvement project, FTA extends preaward authority to project sponsors to 

incur costs for as much engineering and 

design as needed to develop a 

reasonable cost estimate and financial 

plan for the project, utility relocation, 

and real property acquisition and 

associated relocations for any property 

acquisitions not already accomplished 

as a separate project for hardship or 

protective purposes or right-of-way 

under 49 U.S.C. 5323(q). 

For Small Starts projects, upon 

completion of the environmental review 

process and confirmation from FTA that 

the overall project rating is at least a 

Medium, FTA extends pre-award 

authority for vehicle purchases. Upon 

receipt of a letter notifying a New Starts 

or Core Capacity project sponsor of the 

project’s approval into the engineering 

phase, FTA extends pre-award authority 

for vehicle purchases as well as any 

remaining engineering and design, 

demolition, and procurement of long 

lead items for which market conditions 

play a significant role in the acquisition 

price. The long lead items include, but 

are not limited to, procurement of rails, 

ties, and other specialized equipment, 

and commodities. 

Please contact the FTA Regional 

Office for a determination of activities 

not listed here, but which meet the 

intent described above. FTA provides 

this pre-award authority in recognition 

of the long-lead time and complexity 

involved with purchasing vehicles as 

well as their relationship to the ‘‘critical 

path’’ project schedule. FTA cautions 

grantees that do not currently operate 

the type of vehicle proposed in the 

project about exercising this pre-award 

authority. FTA encourages these 

sponsors to wait until later in the 

process when project plans are more 

fully developed. FTA reminds project 

sponsors that the procurement of 

vehicles must comply with all Federal 

requirements, including, but not limited 

to, competitive procurement practices, 

the Americans with Disabilities Act, 

Disadvantaged Business Enterprise 

program requirements and Buy 

America. FTA encourages project 

sponsors to discuss the procurement of 

vehicles with FTA in regard to Federal 

requirements before exercising preaward authority. Because there is not a 

formal engineering phase for Small 

Starts projects, FTA does not extend 

pre-award authority for demolition and 

procurement of long lead items. Instead, 

this work must await receipt of a 

construction grant award or an 

expedited grant agreement. 

a. Real Property Acquisition 

As noticed above, FTA extends preaward authority for the acquisition of 

real property and real property rights for 

fixed Guideway Capital Investment 

Grant projects (New or Small Starts or 

Core Capacity) upon completion of the 

environmental review process for that 

project. The environmental review 

process is completed when FTA signs 

an environmental Record of Decision 

(ROD) or Finding of No Significant 

Impact (FONSI), or makes a Categorical 

Exclusion (CE) determination. With the 

limitations and caveats described below, 

real estate acquisition may commence, 

at the project sponsor’s risk. For FTAassisted projects, any acquisition of real 

property or real property rights must be 

conducted in accordance with the 

requirements of the Uniform Relocation 

Assistance and Real Property 

Acquisition Policies Act (URA) and its 

implementing regulations, 49 CFR part 

24. This pre-award authority is strictly 

limited to costs incurred: (i) To acquire 

real property and real property rights in 

accordance with the URA regulation; 

and (ii) to provide relocation assistance 

in accordance with the URA regulation. 

This pre-award authority is limited to 

the acquisition of real property and real 

property rights that are explicitly 

identified in the final environmental 

impact statement (FEIS), environmental 

assessment (EA), or CE document, as 

needed for the selected alternative that 

is the subject of the FTA-signed ROD or 

FONSI, or CE determination. This preaward authority regarding property 

acquisition that is granted at the 

completion of the environmental review 

process does not cover site preparation, 

demolition, or any other activity that is 

not strictly necessary to comply with 

the URA, with one exception—namely 

when a building that has been acquired, 

has been emptied of its occupants, and 

awaits demolition poses a potential fire 

safety hazard or other hazard to the 

community in which it is located, or is 

susceptible to reoccupation by vagrants. 

Demolition of the building is also 

covered by this pre-award authority 

upon FTA’s written agreement that the 

adverse condition exists. Pre-award 

authority for property acquisition is also 

provided when FTA makes a CE 

determination for a protective buy or 

hardship acquisition in accordance with 

23 CFR 771.117(d)(12). Pre-award 

authority for property acquisition is also 

provided when FTA completes the 

environmental review process for the 

acquisition of right-of-way as a separate 

project in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

5323(q). When a tiered environmental 

review in accordance with 23 CFR 

771.111(g) is used, pre-award authority 

is NOT provided upon completion of 

the first-tier environmental document 

except when the Tier-1 ROD or FONSI 

signed by FTA explicitly provides such 

pre-award authority for a particular 

identified acquisition. Project sponsors 

should use pre-award authority for real 


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property acquisition relocation 

assistance with a clear understanding 

that it does not constitute a funding 

commitment by FTA. FTA provides preaward authority upon completion of the 

environmental review process for real 

property acquisition and relocation 

assistance to maximize the time 

available to project sponsors to move 

people out of their homes and places of 

business, in accordance with the 

requirements of the URA, but also with 

maximum sensitivity to the 

circumstances of the people so affected. 

b. Reimbursement of Costs Incurred 

Under Pre-Award Authority 

Although FTA provides pre-award 

authority for property acquisition, long 

lead items, demolition, utility 

relocation, and vehicle purchases upon 

completion of the environmental review 

process, FTA does not award Federal 

funding for these activities conducted 

under pre-award authority until the 

project receives a Capital Investment 

Grants program construction grant. This 

is to ensure that Federal funds are not 

risked on a project whose advancement 

into construction is not yet assured. 

c. National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) Activities 

NEPA requires that certain projects 

proposed for FTA funding assistance be 

subjected to a public and interagency 

review of the need for the project, its 

environmental and community impacts, 

and alternatives to avoid and reduce 

adverse impacts. Projects of more 

limited scope also need a level of 

environmental review (to determine 

whether there are significant 

environmental impacts) or confirmation 

that a categorical exclusion (CE) applies. 

FTA’s regulation titled ‘‘Environmental 

Impact and Related Procedures,’’ at 23 

CFR part 771 states that the costs 

incurred by a grant applicant for the 

preparation of environmental 

documents requested by FTA are 

eligible for FTA financial assistance (23 

CFR 771.105(e)). Accordingly, FTA 

extends pre-award authority for costs 

incurred to comply with NEPA 

regulations and to conduct NEPArelated activities, effective as of the 

earlier of the following two dates: (1) 

The date of the Federal approval of the 

relevant STIP or STIP amendment that 

includes the project or any phase of the 

project, or that includes a project 

grouping under 23 CFR 450.216(j) that 

includes the project; or (2) the date that 

FTA approves the project into the 

project development phase of the CIG 

program. The grant applicant must 

notify the FTA Regional Office to 

initiate the Federal environmental 

review process in accordance with the 

‘‘Dear Colleague’’ letter from the FTA 

Administrator dated February 24, 2011. 

NEPA-related activities include, but are 

not limited to, public involvement 

activities, historic preservation reviews, 

Section 4(f) evaluations, wetlands 

evaluations, endangered species 

consultations, and biological 

assessments. This pre-award authority is 

strictly limited to costs incurred to 

conduct the NEPA process and 

associated engineering, and to prepare 

environmental, historic preservation 

and related documents. When a New 

Starts, Small Starts, or Core Capacity 

project is granted pre-award authority 

for the environmental review process, 

the reimbursement for NEPA activities 

conducted under pre-award authority 

may be sought at any time through 

Section 5307 (Urbanized Area Formula 

Program) or the flexible highway 

programs (STP and CMAQ). 

Reimbursement from the Section 5309 

CIG program for NEPA activities 

conducted under pre-award authority is 

provided only for expenses incurred 

after entry into the project development 

phase and only once a construction 

grant agreement is signed. As with any 

pre-award authority, FTA 

reimbursement for costs incurred is not 

guaranteed. 

d. Other Activities Requiring Letter of 

No Prejudice (LONP) 

Except as discussed in paragraphs i 

through iii above, a CIG project sponsor 

must obtain a written LONP from FTA 

before incurring costs for any activity 

not covered by pre-award authority. To 

obtain an LONP, an applicant must 

submit a written request accompanied 

by adequate information and 

justification to the appropriate FTA 

Regional Office, as described in B 

below. 

B. Letter of No Prejudice (LONP) Policy 

1. Policy 

LONP authority allows an applicant 

to incur costs on a project utilizing nonFederal resources, with the 

understanding that the costs incurred 

subsequent to the issuance of the LONP 

may be reimbursable as eligible 

expenses or eligible for credit toward 

the local match should FTA approve the 

project at a later date. LONPs are 

applicable to projects and project 

activities not covered by automatic preaward authority. The majority of LONPs 

will be for Section 5309 Capital 

Investment Grants program projects 

undertaking activities not covered under 

automatic pre-award authority. LONPs 

may be issued for formula funds beyond 

the life of the current authorization or 

FTA’s extension of automatic pre-award 

authority; however, the LONP is limited 

to a five-year period, unless otherwise 

authorized in the LONP. Receipt of 

Federal funding under any program is 

not implied or guaranteed by an LONP. 

2. Conditions and Federal Requirements 

The conditions and requirements for 

pre-award authority specified in section 

V.4.ii and V.4.iii above apply to all 

LONPs. Because project implementation 

activities may not be initiated before 

completion of the environmental review 

process, FTA will not issue an LONP for 

such activities until the environmental 

review process has been completed with 

a ROD, FONSI, or CE determination. 

3. Request for LONP 

Before incurring costs for project 

activities not covered by automatic preaward authority, the project sponsor 

must first submit a written request for 

an LONP, accompanied by adequate 

information and justification, to the 

appropriate regional office and obtain 

written approval from FTA. FTA 

approval of an LONP is determined on 

a case-by-case basis. Federal funding 

under the Fixed Guideway Capital 

Investment Grants program is not 

implied or guaranteed by an LONP. 

Specifically, when requesting an LONP, 

the applicant shall provide the 

following items: 

a. Description of the activities to be 

covered by the LONP. 

b. Justification for advancing the 

identified activities. The justification 

should include an accurate assessment 

of the consequences to the project 

scope, schedule, and budget should the 

LONP not be approved. 

c. Allocated level of risk and 

contingency for the activity requested. 

C. FY 2018 Annual List of Certifications 

and Assurances 

The FY 2018 Certifications and 

Assurances and Master Agreement must 

be used for all grants and cooperative 

agreements awarded in FY 2018. All 

recipients with active projects are 

required to sign the FY 2018 

Certifications and Assurances within 90 

days of publication. 

D. Civil Rights Requirements 

1. Civil Rights Overview 

Recipients must carry out provisions 

of the Americans with Disabilities act 

(ADA) of 1990, Section 504 of the 

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, 

and the U.S. DOT’s implementing 

regulations at 49 CFR parts 27, 37, 38, 

and 39. FTA’s ADA Circular (4710.1) 

provides guidance for carrying out the 


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regulatory requirements of the ADA. In 

addition, recipients must regularly 

prepare and submit civil rights program 

plans and reports to establish voluntary 

compliance and document policies and 

practices in the areas of Title VI, DBE 

and EEO. The current status of civil 

rights programs can be found on each 

recipient’s Civil Rights Information page 

of TrAMS. New program plans and 

program updates can be submitted there 

as well. Prior to submitting an 

application for funding, recipients 

should consult with FTA Circulars and 

guidance and submit the following 

programs, as applicable: 

a. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

1964: The U.S. DOT’s Title VI 

implementing regulations are found in 

49 CFR part 21. FTA’s Title VI Circular 

(4702.1B) provides guidance for 

carrying out the regulatory 

requirements. 

b. Disadvantaged Business Enterprise 

(DBE) program and triennial goal: The 

U.S. DOT’s DBE implementing 

regulations are found in 49 CFR part 26 

and provide guidance for carrying out 

the regulatory requirements and 

developing the triennial DBE goal. 

c. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

1964, Equal Employment Opportunity 

(EEO): The U.S. DOT’s EEO 

implementing regulations are found in 

49 CFR part 21. FTA’s EEO Circular 

(4704.1A) provides guidance for 

carrying out the regulatory 

requirements. 

2. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

1964 

Recipients in urbanized areas of 

200,000 or more in population and with 

50 or more fixed-route vehicles in peak 

service must conduct a service equity 

analysis for all service changes that 

meet the recipient’s definition of ‘‘major 

service change’’ prior to implementing 

the service change. A service equity 

analysis is also required for all New 

Start, Small Start, or other new fixed 

guideway capital projects, and must be 

completed six months prior to 

implementing revenue service. 

Recipients also must conduct a fare 

equity analysis for all fare increases or 

decreases prior to implementing a fare 

change and for changes to fare media, 

such as a transition to a cashless fare 

system. Recipients that do not meet the 

abovementioned threshold of 200,000 or 

more in population and 50 fixed route 

vehicles in peak service (i.e., small 

transit providers) are not required to 

conduct a service or fare equity analysis 

but should review their policies and 

practices to ensure their service and fare 

changes do not result in disparate 

impacts on the basis of race, color, or 

national origin. For guidance, see Title 

VI Circular 4702.1B at https://

www.transit.dot.gov/title6. Should you 

have any questions, please contact your 

Regional Civil Rights Officer. 

3. Disadvantaged Business Enterprise 

Program—Transit Vehicle 

Manufacturers 

Recipients exercising pre-award 

authority are expected to comply with 

the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise 

(DBE) regulations. The Department of 

Transportation’s DBE program helps 

small businesses owned by socially and 

economically disadvantaged individuals 

to compete in the marketplace, and is 

designed to support the people who 

create jobs—our nation’s entrepreneurs. 

When procuring vehicles, 49 CFR 

26.49(a) requires that transit vehicle 

manufacturers ‘‘must establish and 

submit for FTA’s approval an annual 

overall percentage goal’’ and ‘‘may make 

the certification required by this section 

if you have submitted the goal this 

section requires and FTA has approved 

it or not disapproved it.’’ 

Recipients are advised that it is not 

sufficient to accept a certification stating 

that ‘‘FTA has not disapproved’’ of a 

TVMs DBE goal. Rather, Recipients 

must ensure that the TVM has 

submitted a goal to FTA and FTA has 

either approved it or not disapproved it. 

A recipient may request from FTA 

verification that a TVM has submitted a 

DBE goal to FTA for its review. Please 

email your Regional Civil Rights Officer 

regarding your request and FTA will 

respond via email within five business 

days. Furthermore, to assist with TVM 

certification compliance, FTA maintains 

a web posting of all certified TVMs 

located at https://www.transit.dot.gov/ 

TVM. 

Finally, FTA takes the position that 

failure by a Recipient to verify a TVM’s 

eligibility to bid on an FTA-assisted 

contract prior to award cannot be cured 

after award of the contract and will 

likely result in FTA declining to provide 

Federal funding for the vehicle 

procurement. 

Furthermore, recipients are also 

reminded of the requirement in 49 CFR 

26.49(a)(4), which states that ‘‘FTA 

recipients are required to submit within 

30 days of making an award, the name 

of the successful bidder, and the total 

dollar value of the contract in the 

manner prescribed in the grant 

agreement.’’ Recipients are to report to 

FTA all vehicle purchases, postproduction alterations, and retrofit 

procurements within the 30 days of 

award. Vehicles purchased solely for 

personal use and/or purchased ‘‘off the 

lot’’ do not need to be reported. 

E. Consolidated Planning Grants 

FTA and FHWA planning funds 

under both the Metropolitan Planning 

and State Planning and Research 

Programs can be consolidated into a 

single consolidated planning grant, 

awarded by either FTA or FHWA. The 

Consolidated Planning Grants (CPG) 

eliminate the need to monitor 

individual fund sources, if several have 

been used, and ensures that the oldest 

funds will always be used first. 

Under the CPG, States can report 

metropolitan planning program 

expenditures (to comply with the 

Uniformed Guidance 2 CFR 200, subpart 

F) for both FTA and FHWA under the 

Catalogue of Federal Domestic 

Assistance number for FTA’s 

Metropolitan Planning Program 

(20.505). Additionally, for States with 

an FHWA Metropolitan Planning (PL) 

fund-matching ratio greater than 80 

percent, the State can waive the 20 

percent local share requirement, with 

FTA’s concurrence, to allow FTA funds 

used for metropolitan planning in a CPG 

to be granted at the higher FHWA rate. 

For some States, this Federal match rate 

can exceed 90 percent. 

States interested in transferring 

planning funds between FTA and 

FHWA should contact the FTA Regional 

Office or FHWA Division Office for 

more detailed procedures. The FHWA 

Order 4551.1 dated August 12, 2013, on 

‘‘Funding Transfers to Other Agencies 

and Among Title 23 Programs’’ provides 

guidance and more detailed 

information. 

For further information on CPGs, 

contact Ann Souvandara, Office of 

Budget and Policy, FTA, at (202) 366– 

0649 or ann.souvandara@dot.gov. 

F. Grant Application Procedures 

All applications for FTA funds should 

be submitted to the appropriate FTA 

Regional Office. All applications are 

filed electronically. FTA continues to 

award and manage grants and 

cooperative agreements using the 

Transit Award Management System 

(TrAMS). Information on accessing and 

using TrAMS, including a list of FTA 

points of contact for the system, can be 

found on FTA’s website at http://

www.transit.dot.gov/TrAMS. 

FTA regional staff are responsible for 

working with grantees to review and 

process grant applications. For an 

application to be considered complete 

and ready for FTA to assign a Federal 

Award Identification Number (FAIN), 

enabling submission in TrAMS, and 

submission to the Department of Labor 

(when applicable), the following 

requirements must be met: 


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1. Recipient has registered in the 

System for Award Management (SAM) 

and its registration is current. If your 

agency is not registered or needs to 

ensure it is current, visit the SAM 

website at (https://www.sam.gov). 

2. Recipient’s contact information, 

including Dun and Bradstreet Data 

Universal Numbering System (DUNS), is 

correct and up-to-date. If requested by 

phone (1–866–705–5711), DUNS is 

provided immediately. If your 

organization does not have a DUNS, 

please visit the Dun & Bradstreet 

website at http://fedgov.dnb.com/ 

webform to obtain the number. 

3. Recipient has properly submitted 

its annual certifications and assurances. 

4. Recipient’s Civil Rights 

submissions are current. 

After October 1, 2018, the grantee has 

a Transit Asset Management plan in 

place that meets the requirements of 49 

CFR part 625, or is covered by a 

compliant Group Plan. 

5. Documentation is on file to support 

recipient’s status as either a designated 

recipient (for the program and area) or 

a direct recipient. 

6. Funding is available, including any 

flexible funds included in the budget, 

and split letters or suballocation letters 

on file (where applicable) to support 

amount being applied for in grant 

application. 

7. The project is listed in a currently 

approved Transportation Improvement 

Program (TIP); Statewide Transportation 

Improvement Program (STIP), or 

Unified Planning Work Program 

(UPWP). 

8. All eligibility issues are resolved. 

9. Required environmental findings 

are made. 

10. The application contains a welldefined scope of work, including at least 

one project with accompanying project 

narratives, budget scope and activity 

line item information, Federal and nonFederal funding amounts, and 

milestones. 

11. Major Capital Projects as defined 

by 49 CFR part 633 ‘‘Project 

Management Oversight’’ must document 

FTA has reviewed the project 

management plan and provided 

approval. 

12. Milestone information is 

complete, or FTA determines that 

milestone information can be finalized 

before the grant is ready for award. FTA 

will also review status of other open 

grants’ reports to confirm financial and 

milestone information is current on 

other open grants and projects. 

Before FTA can award grants for 

competitive projects and activities, 

notification must be provided to the 

House and Senate authorizing and 

appropriations committees. Other 

important issues that impact FTA grant 

processing activities are discussed 

below. 

a. System for Award Management 

(SAM) Registration and Dun and 

Bradstreet Universal Numbering System 

(DUNS) Number. 

Each applicant or recipient of Federal 

Funds is required to: (1) Be registered in 

SAM before submitting its application; 

(2) have a valid DUNS number; and (3) 

continue to maintain an active SAM 

registration with current information at 

all times during which it has an active 

award or an application or plan under 

consideration by the Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA). FTA will not 

make an award to an applicant until the 

applicant has complied with all 

applicable DUNS and SAM 

requirements and, if an applicant has 

not fully complied with the 

requirements by the time the FTA is 

ready to make a Federal award, FTA 

may determine that the applicant is not 

qualified to receive a Federal award and 

use that determination as a basis for 

making a Federal award to another 

applicant. 

The System for Award Management 

(SAM) https://www.sam.gov/portal/ 

SAM/ is the Official U.S. Government 

system that consolidated the capabilities 

of many systems. There is no fee to 

register or use this site. Entities may 

register and update their information at 

no cost directly from the above site. 

SAM registration (formerly CCR 

registration) needs to be renewed at 

least annually. 

b. Award Budgets—Scope Codes and 

Activity Line Items (ALI) Codes; 

Financial Purpose Codes. 

FTA uses the Scope and Activity Line 

Item (ALI) Codes in the award budgets 

to track disbursements, monitor 

program trends, report to Congress, and 

to respond to requests from the 

Inspector General and the Government 

Accountability Office (GAO), as well as 

to manage grants. The accuracy of the 

data is dependent on the careful and 

correct use of codes. 

c. Designated and Direct Recipients 

Documentation 

For its formula programs, FTA 

primarily apportions funds to the 

designated recipient in the large UZAs 

(areas over 200,000), or for areas under 

200,000 (small UZAs and rural areas), it 

apportions the funds to the Governor, or 

its designee (e.g., State DOT). 

Depending on the program and as 

described in the individual program 

sections found in Section IV of this 

notice, further suballocation of funds 

may be permitted to eligible recipients 

who may then apply directly to FTA for 

the funding (direct recipients), so long 

as the required documentation is on file. 

For the programs in which FTA may 

make grants to eligible direct recipients, 

other than the designated recipient(s), 

recipients are reminded that 

documentation must be on file to 

support: (1) The status of the recipient 

either as a designated recipient or direct 

recipient; and (2) the allocation of funds 

to the direct recipient. 

Documentation to support existing 

designated recipients for the UZA must 

also be on file at the time of the first 

application in FY 2018. Further, split 

letters and/or suballocation letters 

(Governor’s Apportionment letters), 

must also be on file to support grant 

applications from direct recipients. 

Once suballocation letters for FY 2018 

funding are finalized they should be 

uploaded into TrAMS. 

The Direct Recipient is required to 

upload to TrAMS a copy of the 

suballocation letter (Letter) indicating 

their allocation of funding [for the 

appropriate fund program] when the 

applicant transmits their application for 

initial review. The letter must be signed 

by the Designated Recipient, or as 

applicable in accordance with their 

planning requirements. If there are two 

Designated Recipients, both entities 

must sign the Letter. The Letter must: 

(1) Indicate the allocations to the 

respective Direct Recipients listed in the 

letter; (2) incorporate language above 

the signatories to reflect this agreement; 

and (3) make clear that the Direct 

Recipient will assume any/all 

responsibility associated with the award 

for the funds. When drafting the letter, 

Designated Recipients may use the 

template language below: 

‘‘As identified in this Letter, the 

Designated Recipient(s) authorize the 

reassignment/reallocation of [enter fund 

source; e.g. Section 5307 funds] to the 

Direct Recipient(s) named herein. The 

undersigned agree to the amounts 

allocated/reassigned to each direct 

Recipient. Each Direct Recipient is 

responsible for its application to the 

Federal Transit Administration to 

receive such funds and assumes the 

responsibilities associated with any 

award for these funds.’’ 

2. Payments 

Once a grant has been awarded and 

executed, requests for payment can be 

processed. To process payments, FTA 

uses ECHO-Web, an internet accessible 

system that provides grantees the 

capability to submit payment requests 

on-line, as well as receive user-IDs and 

passwords via email. New applicants 

should contact the appropriate FTA 


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Regional Office to obtain and submit the 

registration package necessary for set-up 

under ECHO-Web. 

3. Oversight 

FTA is responsible for conducting 

oversight activities to help ensure that 

grants recipients use FTA Federal 

financial assistance in a manner 

consistent with its intended purpose 

and in compliance with regulatory and 

statutory requirements. FTA conducts 

periodic oversight reviews to assess 

grantee compliance with applicable 

Federal requirements. Each Urbanized 

Area Formula Program recipient is 

reviewed every three years, (also known 

as FTA’s Triennial Review); and States 

and state-wide public transportation 

agencies are reviewed periodically to 

assess the management practices and 

program implementation of FTA statewide programs (e.g., Planning, Rural 

Areas, Enhanced Mobility of Seniors 

and Individuals with Disabilities 

Programs). Other more detailed reviews 

are scheduled based on an annual 

grantee oversight assessment. Important 

objectives of FTA’s oversight program 

include, but are not limited to: 

Determining grantee compliance with 

Federal requirements; identifying 

technical assistance needs, and 

delivering technical assistance to meet 

those needs; spotting emerging issues 

with grantees in a forward-looking 

fashion; recognizing when there is a 

need for more in-depth reviews in the 

areas of procurement, financial 

management, and civil rights; and 

identifying grantees with recurring or 

systemic issues. 

4. Technical Assistance 

As noted throughout the notice, FTA 

continues to rely on several of the 

existing program circulars for general 

program guidance. FTA is continuing to 

update the program circulars, with an 

opportunity for notice and comment 

(where warranted), to reflect 

amendments to chapter 53 of title 49, 

U.S.C. made by the FAST Act. In the 

meantime, if you have any questions, 

please do not hesitate to contact FTA. 

FTA headquarters and regional staff will 

be pleased to answer your questions and 

provide any technical assistance you 

may need to apply for FTA program 

funds and manage the grants you 

receive. At its discretion, FTA may also 

use program oversight consultants to 

provide technical assistance to grantees 

on a case by case basis. This notice and 

the program guidance circulars 

previously identified in this document 

may be accessed via the FTA website at 

www.fta.dot.gov. 

G. Grant Management 

1. Grant Reporting 

Recipients of FTA funds are reminded 

that all FTA grantees are required to 

report on their grants. It is critical to 

ensure reports demonstrate that 

reasonable progress is being made on 

projects. At a minimum, all awards 

require a Federal Financial Report (FFR) 

and a Milestone Progress Report (MPR) 

on an annual basis. Some reports are 

required quarterly depending on the 

recipient and the type of projects 

funded under the grant and FTA’s riskbased reporting policy that went into 

effect on October 1, 2017. The 

requirements for these reports and other 

reporting requirements can be found in 

the latest version of FTA Circular 5010. 

FTA staff, auditors, and contractors rely 

on the information provided in the FFR 

and MPR to review and report on the 

status of both financial and project-level 

activities contained in the grant. It is 

critical that recipients provide accurate 

and complete information in these 

reports and submit them by the required 

due date. Failure to report and/or 

demonstrate reasonable progress on 

projects can result in suspension or 

premature close-out of a grant. 

2. Inactive Grants and Grant Closeout 

In FY 2018 FTA will continue to 

focus on identifying and working with 

recipients to close inactive grants. If 

appropriate, FTA will act to close out 

and deobligate funds from these grants 

if reasonable progress is not made. The 

efficient use of funds will further FTA’s 

fulfillment of its mission to provide 

efficient and effective public 

transportation systems for the nation. As 

inactive grants continue to be an audit 

finding within the DOT, FTA must act 

to ensure its grants do not prevent the 

DOT from receiving a ‘‘clean audit’’ 

opinion on its annual financial 

statements. 

In October 2017, FTA identified a list 

of grants that were awarded on or prior 

to September 30, 2014 and have had no 

funds disbursed since September 30, 

2016 or have never had a disbursement. 

FTA Regional Offices will be contacting 

grant recipients with grants that meet 

these criteria to notify them that FTA 

intends to close the grant and deobligate 

any remaining funds unless the grantee 

can provide information that 

demonstrates that the projects funded 

by the grant remain active and the 

grantee has a realistic schedule to 

expedite completion of the projects 

funded in the grant. 

In addition, FTA will work to identify 

any grants that may be subject to Grants 

Oversight and New Efficiency (GONE) 

Act reporting in October 2018. The 

GONE Act requires Federal agencies to 

report active awards whose period of 

performance end date is two or more 

years prior to the end of the fiscal year. 

For FY 2018, this means any active 

award with a period of performance end 

date on September 30, 2016 or prior. 

FTA plans to work with recipients 

whose awards are in this category to 

close the awards or modify the award to 

extend the period of performance, as 

necessary. 

Issued in Washington, DC. 

K. Jane Williams, 

Acting Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2018–14989 Filed 7–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 


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