AASHTO Journal - FTA Offering $225M for Expedited Transit Project Program

The Federal Transit Administration is making $225 million available through its Expedited Project Delivery or EPD pilot program, that supports efforts to streamline the delivery of new transit infrastructure. A notice of funding opportunity is making $100 million of that grant funding immediately available for allocation.

[Above photo by NJ Transit.]

“By encouraging innovative partnerships and funding from a variety of sources, projects can be completed more quickly, making better use of taxpayer dollars, and bringing new transit service to growing communities,” noted K. Jane Williams, FTA’s acting administrator, in a statement.

Authorized by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation or FAST Act, no more than eight projects can be awarded grants under the EPD pilot program and those projects must use public-private partnerships, be operated and maintained by employees of an existing public transportation provider, and have a federal cost share not exceeding 25 percent of the total project cost.

In a separate announcement, the FTA said it is providing a $21.8 million grant to the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority to help fund its Central Avenue “SunRunner” Bus Rapid Transit or BRT project in St. Petersburg, Florida; a project that seeks to provide faster and more reliable bus transit service from downtown St. Petersburg to the Gulf Beaches area.

The total cost of the 10.3-mile-long St. Petersburg BRT project is $43.9 million – with the FTA’s $21.8 million in funds issued through its Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program – and it is expected to provide a local economic boost as well, the agency emphasized; creating jobs and helping communities recover from the COVID-19 public health emergency.