USDOT to fund transit improvements across the country

The 324 US Department of Transportation’s 2023 Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced that 21 organisations around the country will receive a share of US$19.5 million in grants to support comprehensive planning projects that improve access to public transit. The funds are made available through FTA’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning Pilot Program for communities that are developing new or improved mass transit systems.

In total, FTA’s TOD Pilot Program will provide grants for comprehensive planning work in 17 metropolitan areas around the country, helping communities integrate their land-use and transportation planning efforts as they improve their transit systems.

Among the planning projects selected to receive funding were the 5583 Utah Transit Authority (UTA), which will receive $250,500 to work with the cities of Provo and Orem and other partners to analyse land use, markets, housing and essential service conditions along the corridor where the Provo-Orem Bus Rapid Transit line is being planned; the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (1783 SACOG) will receive approximately US$1.1 million to work with local partners to develop a toolkit of policy and regulatory changes to encourage transit-oriented development in the areas surrounding the planned Downtown Riverfront Streetcar project; GoTriangle (formerly Triangle Transit) in Durham, North Carolina, will receive approximately US$1.7 million to support its efforts to implement transit-oriented development along the Durham-Orange Light Rail project, a light rail line that the agency is developing between Durham and Chapel Hill.

Announcing the funding, US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said, “Our nation’s transportation demands have exceeded our capacity, causing millions of Americans to lose precious time stuck on congested roads and transit systems,” said. “By investing in transit planned around housing, jobs and services, these communities are creating ladders of opportunity for their citizens and laying a strong foundation for economic development that our growing nation demands.”