FTA awards funds to planning projects that improve transit access

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
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The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) awarded 21 organizations around the country with a share of $19.5 million in grants to support comprehensive planning projects that improve access to public transit.

 

The funds are made available through FTA’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning Pilot Program for communities that are developing new or improved mass transit systems.

“Our nation’s transportation demands have exceeded our capacity, causing millions of Americans to lose precious time stuck on congested roads and transit systems,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “By investing in transit planned around housing, jobs and services, these communities are creating ladders of opportunity for their citizens and laying a strong foundation for economic development that our growing nation demands.”

FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan announced the grants in Tacoma, Wash., home of Sound Transit, one of the grant recipients. Sound Transit, in partnership with the City of Tacoma, will receive $2 million in FTA funding to support the development of a mobility and economic development plan for communities along the proposed Tacoma Link expansion, a 2.4-mile extension of the Tacoma Link light-rail line.

“At the Federal Transit Administration, we believe public transportation doesn’t just move people; it moves communities,” McMillan wrote in Fast Lane, the official blog of the U.S. Department of Transportation. “And we believe that when communities invest in new transit options, they can connect their citizens to jobs, education and opportunity. However, creating that connection to opportunity doesn’t happen by accident. It takes planning.”
In total, FTA’s TOD Pilot Program will provide grants for comprehensive planning work in 17 metropolitan areas around the country, helping communities integrate their land-use and transportation planning efforts as they improve their transit systems.

FTA’s TOD Pilot Program was established under the current transportation funding authorization, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). To be eligible for the Pilot Program, the planning work must be associated with a transit project for which the local community intends to seek funding through FTA’s Capital Investment Grants (CIG) Program. The CIG Program is FTA’s primary grant program for funding major transit capital investments, including rapid rail, light rail, bus rapid transit and core capacity projects.

A full list of award recipients is available through the FTA’s website.

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