FTA announces $14.7 million in grants for TOD projects

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced it will award $14.7 million in grants to support projects that improve access to public transit.

The grants will be distributed to 16 U.S. metropolitan areas through the FTA's Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Pilot Program for communities that are developing new or expanded mass transit systems, according to an FTA press release.

The grant recipients are integrating land-use and transportation planning efforts as they improve their transit systems, FTA officials said.

"These grants will help nation's growing metropolitan areas plan for development alongside new transit lines that will open doors for residents to access jobs, education, medical care and other vital services," said FTA Acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers, who announced the grants in San Francisco at the 2016 Rail~Volution Conference.

The projects and associated grant awards include the city of Phoenix and Valley Metro for additional development in the South Central Light Rail Extension corridor, $2 million; the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority for economic development in the proposed West Santa Ana Branch light-rail corridor, $2 million; the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's BART Silicon Valley Phase II corridor, $1.52 million; and the city of Milwaukee for TOD planning along streetcar extensions, $750,000.