FTA: TOD Planning Grant Applications Welcome

“Transit-oriented development reduces reliance on single-occupancy vehicles, improves mobility, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution,” FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is providing approximately $13.4 million in FY 2023 grant funding through its Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 10, 2023.

The Pilot Program for TOD Planning “provides funding to communities to integrate land use and transportation planning in new fixed guideway and core capacity transit project corridors,” FTA reported Aug. 7. “As required by statute, any comprehensive or site-specific planning funded through the pilot program must examine ways to improve economic development and ridership potential, foster multimodal connectivity and accessibility, improve transit access for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, engage the private sector, identify infrastructure needs, and enable mixed-use development near transit stations. The statute also requires that the planning work be associated with a new fixed guideway or core capacity transit project as defined in federal transit statute.”

Special consideration will be given to applications that “improve air quality, advance environmental justice, support unhoused populations and promote housing affordability,” according to FTA.

This year, applications for areas with a lower population density or lower average income compared with surrounding areas will receive a higher federal funding share, FTA noted. Additionally, applications with a “substantial focus” on affordable housing may receive up to 100% federal cost share support.

An applicant must be an existing FTA grant recipient—either a project sponsor of an eligible transit project or an entity with land use planning authority in the project corridor—to apply for funding. Also, transit project sponsors and land use planning authorities must partner to conduct the planning work “to ensure that work meets the needs of the local community,” FTA said. Only one application per transit capital project corridor may be submitted to FTA. 

FTA’s TOD program has provided more than $104 million in grants since 2015. Nineteen projects—12 rail-related—shared $13.1 million in 2022.

“Transit-oriented development reduces reliance on single-occupancy vehicles, improves mobility, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution,” FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said. “It helps promote transit ridership by creating more opportunities for people to access rail stations, transit centers and bus stops. Through this program, we will support more investments in TOD and help improve communities and people’s lives.”

In a related development, FTA in January 2022 launched a TOD Planning Program GIS dashboard that features information on awarded proposals and the respective planning studies.