U.S. Department of Transportation announced an initial $13 million in Federal Transit Administration competitive grant funds for transit-oriented planning.
The Federal Transit Administration is seeking plans that work transit, housing and land use into ideas about how to reduce costs for the nation's families and reduce climate and air quality impact on transportation, according to a DOT May 26 news release. The FTA also expects the same ideas to "promote equitable delivery of benefits to underserved communities."
"We're making this funding available to help more cities and towns plan for the future their residents want and deserve," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the news release. "When communities are able to locate housing, jobs and cultural centers alongside public transit, it helps people get where they need to go more quickly and affordably and with less pollution."
Funding for the Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development Planning grant program was increased by 38% through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This will help send nearly $70 million to "communities across the country over the next five years," the release reported.
The existing planning program supports projects that "improve economic development and ridership, 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," according to the release.
The program focuses on projects which are comprehensive or site-specific for a certain community in order to give smaller communities improved access to public transport, the release reported.
