FTA awards funds to transit systems in Discretionary (Competitive) Grants and as Formula Grants. These funding sources each have specific requirements, funding cycles, and awards processes that should be carefully reviewed. Review the different grant programs currently available at FTA.
When funds are available for a program FTA releases a Notice of Funding Availability through the Federal Register. This Notice provides all of the information needed to start the process for one specific grant including deadlines, forms required, and basic requirements.
FTA posts all competitive grant and cooperative agreement opportunities on Grants.gov, the comprehensive government-wide website for announcing competitive grant opportunities. Grants.gov is the single, secure Federal website unifying 1000 grant programs from 26 Federal grant-making agencies. Please follow this link to search for competitive opportunities or to find out more about.
Grant recipients and FTA use the TEAM system to manage the grants after award (and in some cases during the award process). TEAM allows users to monitor project budgets and milestones, make budget and scope revisions, and other project management activities. Contact your regional office if you need a user name and password.
To receive FTA funds for public transportation purposes:
FTA conducts two major oversight reviews:
In addition, when the grantee is either participating in a special program (e.g. Project Management Oversight reviews for grantees receiving Section 5309 New Starts funding) or is at-risk or out of compliance in a specific area (i.e. procurement systems or financial systems) other reviews may be conducted.
Grant recipients and the public are informed of Grant Awards through the publication of Annual Apportionments. This listing provides the transit system name, location, dollar amount awarded, and other pertinent information. Full information about an award is obtained through TEAM.