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    1. Management

    FTA announces $6.2 million for transit planning in communities nationwide

    Sept. 30, 2020
    The grants are provided through the Pilot Program for TOD Planning, which fund comprehensive planning to encourage ridership, transit access and economic and mixed-use development near public transit projects.
    Related To: Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

    A total of $6.2 million in funding has been made available by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to support comprehensive planning that improves access to public transit.  

    The competitive grant funds are provided through FTA’s Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning. 

    “Safe and convenient access to public transportation for all is a priority for FTA,” said FTA Deputy Administrator K. Jane Williams. “This program is an excellent opportunity for communities to incorporate transit projects in their economic development planning.”  

    FTA’s TOD Pilot Program funds comprehensive planning to encourage ridership, transit access and economic and mixed-use development near public transportation projects. Examples of eligible projects include comprehensive planning studies around station areas for new fixed guideway projects, such as light rail, heavy rail, commuter rail or bus rapid transit systems that have a designated right-of-way. 

    In order to apply for program funding, an applicant must be an FTA grantee – either a project sponsor of an eligible transit project or an entity with land use planning authority in the project corridor.  To ensure that work meets the needs of the local community, transit project sponsors and land use planning authorities must partner to conduct the planning work. The application period will close Oct. 26, 2020. 

    In June 2020, FTA awarded $22.97 million in grants to 23 organizations, including $1 million to the Miami Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) for planning 16 stations along the 20-mile South Dade Transitway Corridor BRT and $2 million to the city of Phoenix to plan for TOD at nine stations of the proposed 10-mile Capitol/I-10 West Extension light-rail project. 

    FTA’s TOD Pilot Program was established under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and amended by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.  The program is authorized through Fiscal Year 2020.