The Federal Transit Administration recently issued $9.9 million in grants to 22 American Indian tribes and native Alaskan communities to improve their public transportation systems.
[Above photo by the FTA]
Those grants – issued via the FTA’s Tribal Transit Program – allow tribes to buy transit vehicles, upgrade bus facilities, and expand transit options. The agency noted that the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA includes nearly $46 million in competitive funding over five years for its Tribal Transit Program; an increase of nearly 83 percent.
According to the National Transit Database, more than 13 million vehicle miles of service are provided by tribal transit systems annually nationwide.
“These funds will directly support 22 tribal nations across 12 states creating safe, clean, and accessible options for getting residents where they need to go,” said Arlando Teller, assistant secretary for tribal affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation, in a statement.
“FTA’s Tribal Transit Program assists communities in addressing their unique transportation issues — taking to heart community involvement to ultimately support sustainable transportation solutions,” he noted.
“These project selections will improve public transportation and connections for people in communities that have been historically underserved,” added FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez.
“Providing public transportation truly changes lives, and launching transit service, replacing buses and vans, and building new transit facilities helps keep people in tribal communities and native Alaskan villages moving,” she said.
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