On Jan. 27, 2023, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published Federal Notice of Available Funding for Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. The accompanying tables by funding programs make for very interesting reading. Too many elected officials and transit agencies constantly complain Washington shortchanges them, yet how many of them are aware of the following:
- Table 14 Prior Year Unobligated Section 5307 Passenger Ferry Grant Program Allocations: There are a total of 18 projects worth $60,491,249 that have yet to be obligated under approved grants. This includes four from FY 2018 worth $7,951,178 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2023, four from FY 2019 worth $12,220,000 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2024, three from FY 2020 worth $11,206,791 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2025, and seven from FY 2021 worth $29,113,280 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2025. Prior year unobligated grant allocations are only updated as of Sept. 30, 2022.
- Table 15 Prior Year Unobligated Section 5339(b) Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive Allocations: There are a total of 153 projects worth $1,044,009,971 that have not yet been obligated under approved grants. This includes 20 from FY 2019 worth $94,001,295 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2023, 28 from FY 2020 worth $103,473,000 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2023, 55 from FY 2021 worth $295,169,065 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2025, and 50 from FY 2022 worth $551,366,311 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2025. Prior year unobligated grant allocations are only updated as of Sept. 30, 2022.
- Table 16 Prior Year Unobligated Section 5309 Fixed Guideway Capital Investment Grant (CIG) and Section 3005(b) Expedited Project Delivery Program Allocations: There are a total of 49 projects worth $3,566,504,917 that have not yet been obligated under approved grants. This includes one from FY 2015 worth $250,000,000 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2023, three from FY 2016 worth $266,321,386 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2023, six from FY 2017 worth $428,032,144 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2023, one from FY 2019 worth $86,131,279 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2025, one from FY 2020 worth $10,570,000 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2025, 12 from FY 2021 worth $481,533,182 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2025, and 25 from FY 2022 worth $2,043,916,926 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2025. Prior year unobligated grant allocations are only updated as of Sept. 30, 2022.
- Table 17 Prior Year Unobligated Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility (CAM): There are a total of 26 CAM projects from FY 2021 worth $8,303,779 that have not yet been obligated under approved grants. They will lapse on Sept. 30, 2024. Prior year unobligated grant allocations are only updated as of Sept. 30, 2022.
- Table 18 Prior Year Unobligated Section 5339(c) Low or No Emissions Program: There are a total of 132 projects worth a total of $1,202,304,958 that have not yet been obligated under approved grants. This includes five projects from FY 2020 worth $16,153,872 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2023, if not obligated under approved grants, 24 projects from FY 2021 worth $80,821,336 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2024, and 103 projects from FY 2022 worth $1,105,329,750 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2025. Prior year unobligated grant allocations are only updated as of Sept. 30, 2022.
- Table 19 Prior Year Unobligated Tribal Transit Infrastructure Grants - Community Program Allocations: There are a total of 90 projects worth $18,227,609 that have not yet been obligated under approved grants. This includes 37 from FY 2020 worth $3,734,884 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2023, if not obligated under approved grants, 20 from FY 2021 worth $2,794,272 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2024, and under the American Rescue Plan Allocation, eight projects from FY 2021 worth $3,063,329 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2024, and 25 projects from FY 2022 worth $8,635,124 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2025. Prior year unobligated grant allocations are only updated as of Sept. 30, 2022.
- Table 24 Prior Year Unobligated Transit Infrastructure Grants - Community Projects: There are a total of 76 projects worth $195,898,267 that have no lapsing date.
- Table 22 FY 2023 Prior Year Unobligated American Rescue Plan Additional Assistance Funding (Full Year): There are 12 projects from FY 2022 worth $279,490,634 that will lapse on Sept. 30, 2023. After that date, they become eligible for obligation for any purpose under Section 5307 or 5311 until Sept. 30, 2027. FTA was able to update this table as of Jan. 27, 2023.
- Table 23 American Rescue Plan Capital Investment: There are six projects worth $186,01,428 that will lapse as of Sept. 30, 2024. FTA was able to update this table as of Jan. 24, 2023.
Why have so many transit agencies not followed up and worked with their FTA Regional Office in successfully completing the grant application process for carryover FTA discretionary funded project allocations under these various programs?
In FY 2023, there will be another series of new NOFAs (Notice of Funding Availability) for the following discretionary grant programs:
- Transit Oriented Development Planning (Competitive pilot)- $13,432,051
- Pilot Program for Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility- $4701,210
- Public Transportation On Indian Reservation- $8,935,753;
- Bus and Bus Facilities- $469,445,424
- Section 5339(c) Low or No Emissions- $1,151,681,178
- Section 5337 State of Good Repair Rail Replacement- $300,000,000
- Section 5309 Capital Investment- $3,771,900,000
Winning funding under any of these national competitive discretionary grant programs would be in addition to any transit agencies share of the billions available under various FY 2023 formula grant programs. Some of the larger ones include your transit agency's share of $7,060,120,714 Section 5307 Urban Formula, $4,183,665,069 Section 5337 State of Good Repair and $613,179,454 Section 5339 Bus and Bus Facilities.
Don't forget many transit agencies still have carryover funding from some of the same and other various formula FY 2021 and 2020 programs that is still available as these dollars have not yet been obligated under approved grants.
Why not work with your FTA Regional Office to develop a schedule for grant submittals in FY 2023, along with a priority list to be processed?
Remember your local transit agency is in intense competition against other transit agencies within your state, as well as other states around the nation.
While working at Region 2 (New York & New Jersey), I encouraged all of our grantees to work as one. The quicker grantees could place discretionary allocations under grants, the better. Under my watch, our goal was to demonstrate that transit agencies in New York and New Jersey would do a good job with annual formula funding. It helped make the case for new additional discretionary dollars in future years.
Experienced grantees would lend a helping hand to less experienced or new one time grantees in navigating the complexities of FTA's grant programs. We worked as a team. Everyone understood that our Congressional delegation loses credibility when lobbying for more transit dollars if some left discretionary dollars on the table year after year.
There is no incentive for Washington to approve additional discretionary transit dollars when you don't use what was previously offered. As each year goes by, the project cost tends to increase. The dollar value of any allocation does not. In the end, taxpayers, commuters and the respective transit agency are the losers. With a growing national debt of $31.4 trillion, now more than ever, every dollar counts.
My staff and I would always encourage our grantees to make it a priority and secure these national competitive discretionary funds within one year or less after the winners were announced. Like the Marines, the few and the brave, it was our motto not to leave any extra discretionary funding behind.
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Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously served as a former director for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office of Operations and Program Management. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for New Jersey Transit, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, NYC Transit bus, subway and Staten Island Railway, Long Island and Metro North railroads, MTA Bus, NYCDOT Staten Island Ferry along with 30 other transit agencies in New York and New Jersey.
