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 Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration
 AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration; FTA, DOT.
 ACTION: Bus Ladders of Opportunity Initiative announcement of project selections.
 SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects with prior year Section 5309 Bus and Bus Facilities funds authorized by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU, Pub. L. 109-59) and prior authorizations for the Bus and Bus Facilities Program (Ladders of Opportunity Initiative). The amount available to projects is $100 million. On August 4, 2014, FTA published a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) (79 FR 32358) announcing the availability of funding for this program. These program dollars will provide financial assistance to purchase, replace, or rehabilitate buses, bus facilities, and bus-related equipment, and other eligible capital project costs.
 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Successful applicants should contact the appropriate FTA Regional Office for information regarding applying for the funds or program-specific information. A list of Regional Offices can be found at 
                        *www.fta.dot.gov.*
                         A TDD is available at 1-800-877-8339 (TDD/FIRS).


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to the NOFA, FTA received 282 proposals for 446 projects from 49 States plus the District of Columbia, Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico requesting $1.4 billion in Federal funds. FTA evaluated project proposals based on each applicant's responsiveness to the program evaluation criteria as detailed in the NOFA. FTA is funding 24 projects as shown in Table 1 for a total of $100 million. Successful applicants selected for competitive discretionary funding should work with their FTA Regional Office to finalize the grant application in FTA's Transportation Electronic Awards Management System (TEAM) so that funds can be obligated expeditiously. Grant applications must only include eligible activities applied for in the original project application. Funds must be used consistent with the competitive proposal and for the eligible purposes established in the NOFA and 
                    ( print page 64007)
                    described in FTA Circulars 5010 and 9300.1B. In cases where the allocation amount is less than the proposer's requested amount, grantees should work with the Regional Office to reduce scope or scale the project such that a complete phase or project is accomplished. Grantees are reminded that program requirements such as cost sharing or local match can be found in the NOFA. A discretionary project identification number has been assigned to each project for tracking purposes and must be used in the TEAM application. Selected projects are eligible for pre-award authority no earlier than September 25, 2014. Pre-award authority is also contingent upon Federal requirements, such as planning and environmental requirements, having been met. For more about FTA's policy on pre-award authority, please see the FTA Fiscal Year 2014 Apportionments, Allocations, and Program notice found in 77 FR 13461 (March 10, 2014). Post-award reporting requirements include submission of the Federal Financial Report and Milestone reports in TEAM as appropriate (see FTA Circulars 5010.1D and 9030.1E). 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. FTA emphasizes that grantees must follow all third-party procurement guidance, as described in FTA Circular 4220.1F. Funds allocated in this announcement must be obligated in a grant by September 30, 2017. Due to the volume of unfunded project proposals, FTA is unable to conduct individual debriefs with unsuccessful applicants. FTA can, however offer the following feedback to strengthen proposals when responding to other future discretionary opportunities: Submit new and carefully conceived proposals that directly reflect the requirements contained in the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).
                Contact FTA staff, regional and Headquarters, to discuss eligibility of your project before submitting the proposal.
                Address, clearly and thoroughly, all of the criteria outlined in the NOFA, to include why the investment it is needed and how it will meet the need, and accomplish or meet the intent of the program/opportunity to which you are applying.
                If a project is scalable, include both the scalable amount and an explanation of what can/will be funded with the scalable amount and how the benefits of the project may be scaled as a result of lesser funding.
                Ensure supporting documentation and attachments are clearly referenced in the application, and that they are relevant for the criteria.
                Ensure that qualitative and quantitative data provided in response to the criteria is project specific or specific to the targeted service area.
                Check numbers for the local match and ensure the budget shows the required match or accounts for the use of in-kind match that is equal to or more than the required local share. Therese W. McMillan, Acting Administrator.
 Table I—FY 2014 Bus Ladders of Opportunity Initiative Project Selections
State
Recipient
Project ID
Project description
AllocationAK
State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
D2014-BUSP-00001
Bus Shelters
$82,318CA
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
D2014-BUSP-00002
Bus Stop Improvements
1,668,557CA
San Diego Metropolitan Transit System
D2014-BUSP-03001
Bus Replacements
18,054,003CA
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
D2014-BUSP-00003
Buses for Service Expansion
8,995,226CO
Mesa County
D2014-BUSP-00004
Bus Replacements
432,000CO
Regional Transportation District
D2014-BUSP-03002
Priority Signalization & Service Enhancement
4,999,000FL
Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (LYNX)
D2014-BUSP-97001 D2014-BUSP-04001
Bus Transfer Center; Compressed Natural Gas Articulated Buses
1,000,000; 8,390,860IA
Ames Transit Agency
D2014-BUSP-04002
Buses for Expansion of Service
2,550,000IL
Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System (Connect Transit)
D2014-BUSP-10001
Bus Replacements
2,040,000IL
Springfield Mass Transit District (SMTD)
D2014-BUSP-06001
Expanded Bus Service (Bus Purchase)
762,400KS
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri
D2014-BUSP-06002
Vans for New Service
66,308KY
Transit Authority of River City
D2014-BUSP-06003
Replacement Buses
8,700,000MI
City of Detroit Department of Transportation
D2014-BUSP-05001 ($20,325,548); D2014-BUSP-01001 ($5,600,000)
Replacement Buses
25,925,548MN
Metropolitan Council—Metro Transit
D2014-BUSP-07001
Bus Stop Improvements
3,260,000MO
Kansas City Area Transportation Authority
D2014-BUSP-07002
Transit Access Improvements
1,200,000NE
City of Lincoln, Nebraska
D2014-BUSP-02003
Replacement Buses
2,014,496OK
Oklahoma Department of Transportation
D2014-BUSP-07003
Replacement Buses
4,082,400( print page 64008)OR
Douglas County—Oregon Department of Transportation
D2014-BUSP-07004
Replacement Buses
576,000OR
Lake County—Oregon Department of Transportation
D2014-BUSP-11001
ADA vans to expand service
105,400OR
Lane Transit District (Eugene)
D2014-BUSP-98001
Paratransit Vehicle Replacement and Security Camera Expansion
1,064,145TX
Fort Worth Transportation Authority
D2014-BUSP-99001
Replacement Buses
1,162,078TX
Texarkana Urban Transit District
D2014-BUSP-99002
Replacement Buses
1,200,000WA
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe
D2014-BUSP-02001
Buses for New Service
194,262WA
Washington State Department of Transportation
D2014-BUSP-02002
Transit Facility
1,474,999


[FR Doc. 2014-25518 Filed 10-24-14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-57-P