$20.5B in federal funds for public transit available in FY 2024 – GWC Mag

Dive Brief:

• The Federal Transit Administration announced Thursday that $20.5 billion in federal funding will be available in fiscal year 2024 for public transit.
• This round of funds includes grants for buses and bus facilities, transit designed for older adults and people with disabilities as well as funds to repair and maintain transit assets.
• “Transit funds reach communities large and small, which depend on this funding to start new projects, fix old infrastructure, and ensure fast, safe, convenient service,” said FTA Acting Administrator Veronica Vanterpool in a press release.

Dive Insight:

The FTA’s full fiscal-year funding of $20.5 billion includes the $9.9 billion partial-year funding the agency announced on Feb. 29 while the federal government operated under a continuing resolution. With the March 8 enactment of a partial FY 2024 budget bill that included the Department of Transportation, the full-year funding became available. “This $20.5 billion investment in public transportation will support the daily lives of millions of Americans across the country and help communities expand access to economic opportunity,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a press release.

The FY 2024 funding round includes more than $438 million to enhance the mobility of older adults and people with disabilities, over $1 billion in formula and competitive grants for buses and bus facilities, $4.5 billion for state-of-good-repair programs, nearly $14 million for transit-oriented development and $954 million for rural area and rural transit assistance programs. 

The FTA published a set of apportionment tables that detail funding by recipient category and specific funding programs. The tables “allow transit agencies and grant recipients to view the amounts for programs by state and urbanized area so they can better plan and manage new and expanded transit projects that benefit their communities,” the FTA said in a press release.