May 24, 2018

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has made $25.8 million in grant funds available for transit planning efforts under the FTA’s Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning.

FTA Acting Administrator K. Jane Williams called the pilot program “an excellent opportunity for cities and towns to maximize transit-oriented development around their transit systems to ensure they are capturing the value associated with transit.”

The grants are intended to provide funding to integrate land use and transportation planning efforts along eligible transit projects in order to support transit ridership, multimodal connectivity, and mixed-use development near transit stations.

More specifically, according to the FTA’s website, “Comprehensive planning funded through the program must examine ways to improve economic development and ridership, foster multimodal connectivity and accessibility, improve transit access for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, engage the private sector, identify infrastructure needs, and enable mixed-use development near transit stations.”

To be eligible for funding, a project must be a “new fixed guideway project” or a “core capacity improvement project.” Statute defines “new fixed guideway project” as a new public transportation facility, or extension of an existing facility, that uses a separate right-of-way, rail, or a fixed catenary system, or that is used for a passenger ferry system or bus rapid transit. “Core capacity improvement project” is defined as a substantial corridor-based capital investment in an existing fixed guideway system that increases the capacity of the corridor by at least 10 percent.

The TOD Pilot Program was established under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century Act (MAP-21) in 2012 and amended by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act in 2015.

Click here for the Notice of Funding Opportunity. FTA will also host a webinar on this funding opportunity on Thursday, June 14 at 2pm ET.The application period closes July 23, 2018.