Number 2008-59
12-29-08
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The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the selection of projects to be funded under Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 appropriations for the Public Transportation on Indian Reservations Program; Tribal Transit Program (TTP), a program authorized by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
The Tribal Transit Program (TTP) established by Section 3013(c)(1) SAFETEA–LU, Pub. L. 109–59 (August 10, 2005), under 49 U.S.C. 5311(c) makes funds available to federally recognized Indian tribes or Alaska Native villages, groups, or communities as identified by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in the U.S. Department of the Interior for public transportation capital projects, operating costs and planning activities that are eligible costs under the Nonurbanized Area Formula Program (Section 5311).
A total of $12 million was made available for the program in FY 2008. In response to the FY 2008 NOFA, 89 applicants requested $24 million for new transit services, enhancement or expansion of existing transit services and planning studies including operational planning. Projects were selected through a competitive process based on each applicant’s response to the program evaluation criteria outlined in FTA’s May 21, 2008, Federal Register Notice: Notice of Funding Availability and Solicitation for FY 2008 TTP (73 FR 29569). FTA also took into consideration the current status of the FY 2006 and FY 2007 grants for tribes requesting continuation funding.
Because of the high demand, many applicants selected for funding will receive less funding than they requested to enable FTA to support an increased number of meritorious applications. Funds were only awarded to fund one year of the project. Tribes that sought funding for a multi-year project in response to the FY 2008 solicitation must submit a new application in response to the FY 2009 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), when it is published, in order to be considered for FY 2009 funding.
The selected projects provide $620,000 for transit planning studies and/or operational planning; $557,500 for startup projects for new transit service; and, $10,822,500 for enhancements or expansion of existing transit services. Each of the 71 awardees, as well as the applicants not selected for funding, will receive a letter detailing the funding decision.
The complete Federal Notice may be found at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-30163.pdf.
For further information, please contact Region 10’s Bill Ramos at (206) 220-4319 or email bill.ramos@dot.gov.
Sincerely,
/s/
R.F. Krochalis
Regional Administrator
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