The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has made $212.3 million available under the Public Transportation Emergency Relief Program, for transit agencies impacted by major disaster declarations across the United States in 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, signed into law in December 2022, appropriated the funding for the ER Program’s support for 2017 and 2020-22 declared disasters.
To receive funding, transit agencies must have eligible expenses resulting from an event for which the president declared a major disaster within those timeframes. A list of declared major disasters is available at FEMA’s website.
FTA's Emergency Relief program enables FTA to provide assistance to public transit operators in the aftermath of an emergency or major disaster. The program helps states and public transportation systems:
- Pay for repairing and/or replacing equipment and facilities that have suffered serious damage as a result of an emergency, including natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes and tornadoes;
- Undertake capital projects to repair or replace facilities or equipment that have suffered serious damage as a result of an emergency;
- Support the costs of evacuation, rescue operations and temporary public transportation service or
- Reestablishing, expanding or relocating service before, during or after an emergency.
Applications for funding must be submitted by May 26, 2023. Additional information is available at FTA’s website. FTA will hold a webinar on the program on April 6 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
