Other Funding Opportunities

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has announced the availability of $37.7 million in competitive grant funding for the Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program in FY 2025-26. This program offers grants to support local and regional multimodal transportation and land use planning projects that contribute to the state’s climate and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals, improve community accessibility, and benefit under-resourced communities. The program includes three funding categories:
•    Sustainable Communities Grants ($29.5 million - $17 million competitive & $12.5 million formula to MPOs) to encourage local and regional planning that supports state goals, implements Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS)
(where applicable), and to ultimately achieve the State’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 40 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 2050, respectively.  Eligible applicants include cities, counties, transit agencies, and Native American Tribal Governments. A minimum 11.47% local match is required, though Native American Tribal Governments may be exempt.
•    Climate Adaptation Planning Grants ($3.7 million) support local and regional identification of transportation-related climate vulnerabilities through the development of climate adaptation plans, as well as project-level adaptation planning to identify adaptation projects and strategies for transportation infrastructure. Up to $1 million is reserved for projects led by Native American Tribal Governments. A minimum 11.47% local match is required for most applicants, with exemptions for Native American Tribal Governments. 

•   Strategic Partnerships Grants ($4.5 million) funds transportation planning studies in partnership with Caltrans that address the regional, interregional, and statewide needs of the State Highway System, and assist in achieving the Caltrans Mission and Grant Program Objectives. A sub-category funds transit-focused planning projects that address multimodal transportation deficiencies. Eligible applicants include MPOs and RTPAs. A minimum 20% local match is required for most applicants, with the exception of transit projects which require an 11.47%local match.

For more information, visit https://dot.ca.gov/programs/transportation-planning/division-of-transportation-planning/regional-and-community-planning/sustainable-transportation-planning-grants. Applications are due January 22, 2025. 

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has announced a call for projects for $40 million for capital projects that help implement MTC’s Climate Program strategies identified in Plan Bay Area 2050 and achieve the region’s 19% greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction target, as well as advance MTC’s Active Transportation strategies to build a complete streets network. There are four grant programs available: (1) The Regional Mobility Hubs Program seeks to create customer-friendly community spaces that provide clear information and easy last-mile connections to public transit, shared mobility and active transportation. $15 million is available with an award minimum of $500,000 and a maximum of $5,000,000. (2) The Local Parking Management Grant Program furthers sustainable parking and curb management approaches that increase affordable and safe access to destinations and balance parking and curb uses. $3 million is available with an award minimum of $500,000 and a maximum of $1,500,000. (3) The Charging Infrastructure Program is seeking projects for the acquisition and installation of publicly accessible charging stations for electric vehicles and/or electric mobility devices. $20 million is available with an award minimum of $300,000 and a maximum of $5,000,000. (4) The Active Transportation Capital Design Technical Assistance program awards technical assistance to conceptual projects that incorporate All Ages and Abilities design principles, advancing design to the point that they are ready to move to construction. $2 million is available with an award minimum of $100,000 and a maximum of $300,000. Projects funded in the first three grant programs will require an 11.47% match of local funds. Eligible applicants include Bay Area cities, counties, transit agencies, and county transportation agencies. For more information, visit https://abag.ca.gov/technical-assistance/2024-climate-program-implementation-grants. Applications are due December 20, 2024 at 4 p.m.

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The Bridge Investment Program (BIP) provides funding for bridge replacement, rehabilitation, preservation, and protection projects that reduce the number of bridges in poor condition, or in fair condition at risk of declining into poor condition.  

The Bridge Investment Program was established by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which makes the single largest dedicated investment in bridges since the construction of the Interstate highway system: a total of $40 billion over 5 years to help ensure that some of the nation’s most important bridges remain safe and operational, meet current and future traveler needs, support local economies, strengthen our supply chains, and create good-paying jobs across the country.

The Bridge Investment Program (BIP) has three categories of awards, each requiring a separate application:

• Planning Level Projects
• Bridge Projects (<$100 million)
• Large Bridge Projects (>$100 million)

The deadlines for applications to be submitted are:

• August 1, 2025, for consideration of FY 2026 funds.

Eligible Applicants: State Governments; Local Governments; Federally Recognized Tribes and Affiliated Groups; Planning and Project Organizations; U.S. Territories

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the availability of $1.5 billion for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) competitive grants under the Local and Regional Project Assistance Program. Eligible projects include surface transportation infrastructure projects that improve safety, environmental sustainability, quality of life, mobility and community connectivity, economic competitiveness and opportunity including tourism, state of good repair, partnership and collaboration, and innovation. Eligible applicants include states and the District of Columbia; a unit of local government; a public agency or publicly chartered authority established by 1 or more States; port authorities; federally recognized Tribal Governments; transit agencies; and a multi-State or multijurisdictional group of entities. The minimum award size is $5 million in urban areas ($1 million in rural areas) and the maximum award size is $25 million. Federal funding through RAISE may account for no more than 80% of total project costs, except in rural areas, historically disadvantaged communities, and areas of persistent poverty. This grant program supports projects that drive sustainability and equity while promoting innovative solutions to enhance transportation infrastructure across the U.S. Learn more by visiting the program website at
https://www.transportation.gov/RAISEgrants. USDOT is offering a webinar series on the application process, more details can be found here: https://www.transportation.gov/RAISEgrants/outreach. Applications are due by 8:59 PM on January 30, 2025.
 

The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration has announced the availability of up to $876 million in competitive grant funds for FY 2024-2025 through the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation
(PROTECT) Program, with potential funding for FY 2026. The PROTECT Program funds projects that aim to make surface transportation systems more resilient to natural hazards, such as climate change, sea level rise, heat waves, flooding, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters. Eligible projects include planning activities, resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk coastal infrastructure. The program also seeks to showcase innovation and best practices that can be replicated across the nation. The program includes four funding categories:

•    Planning Grants: Eligible projects include resilience planning, predesign, design, technical capacity building, and evacuation planning and preparation.
•    Resilience Improvement Grants (up to $638 million available): Eligible projects involve construction activities to improve the ability of existing surface transportation assets to withstand natural disasters and extreme weather or to increase the resilience of infrastructure to changing conditions, such as sea level rise, flooding, and wildfires.
•    Community Resilience and Evacuation Route Grants: Eligible projects include strengthening and protecting evacuation routes, expanding capacity, installing intelligent transportation and communication systems, and ensuring access to critical destinations such as hospitals and intermodal facilities.
•    At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure Grants (up to $120 million available): Eligible projects address risks to highway and non-rail infrastructure from coastal flooding, erosion, wave action, storm surge, or sea level rise, with the goal of improving safety and reducing long-term costs by avoiding future maintenance or rebuilding expenses.

Eligible applicants include states, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), units of local government, political subdivisions of states, special purpose districts, or public authorities with a transportation function. Planning Grants have a minimum award of $100,000, with no local match required. For the other categories, the minimum grant award is $500,000, with a 20% local match requirement. There is no maximum grant award for any category. Learn more by visiting the program website at https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/356840. Applications are due by 8:59 PM on February 24, 2025. 

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has announced the availability of up to $9.62 billion in Large Bridge Project competitive grant funding for FYs 2023-2026 of the Bridge Investment Program (BIP). The program focuses on existing bridges to reduce the overall number of bridges in poor condition, or in fair condition at risk of falling into poor condition. Eligible projects must have already completed preliminary engineering. Eligible applicants include a state or a group of states; a metropolitan planning organization; a unit of local government or a group of local governments; a political subdivision of a state or local government; a special purpose district or a public authority with a transportation function. The minimum grant award is $50 million and the maximum award is 50 percent of the total eligible project costs up to $3 billion. Learn more by visiting the program website at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/bip/. Applications for FY 2026 funding are due by August 1, 2025.