The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has opened two funding opportunities that apply to the transit industry.
USDOT has opened the next round of Rebuilding American Infrastructure, with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grants for interested entities to apply for $1.5 billion in available funds.
In 2022, RAISE grants funded 166 projects in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including more than $476 million for transit specific projects. USDOT says RAISE grants rating rubric will continue to prioritize safety, environmental sustainability, mobility and community connectivity and quality of life.
Additionally, projects designated “Reconnecting Extra” during the new FY 2022 Reconnecting Communities Program (RCP) competition and submitted for consideration under the FY 2023 RAISE Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will have a greater opportunity to be advanced during the FY 2023 RAISE evaluation process.
“The historic investments the Biden-Harris Administration will help communities across the country modernize their transportation,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “After decades of underinvestment in America’s infrastructure, we are supporting projects that help people and goods get where they need to go more safely, efficiently and affordably.”
FTA – Transit Worker/Rider Safety Best Practices Research
Within the USDOT, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a $500,000 NOFO seeking proposals for the first phase of a Transit Worker and Rider Safety Best Practices Research Project.
FTA intends to award a single entity with funds that will go toward a research project to help transit agencies address worker and rider assaults. The goals of the project are to identify public safety risks for transit workers and riders, determine the most effective mitigation strategies to minimize those risks and promote the implementation of those strategies.
The two-phase project is part of a larger safety research efforts at USDOT to provide technical and financial support to transit agencies and the transit industry to pursue innovative approaches to reduce safety hazards.
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