FTA: $20 million in grant funds available for TOD planning

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced yesterday the availability of $20.5 million in competitive grant funds to support transit-oriented development projects.

The funds are provided through the FTA's Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning Pilot Program, which provides grants for comprehensive planning in communities that are developing or implementing major new transportation projects.

"This funding opportunity will help communities plan development that creates jobs, encourages transit use, and gives residents convenient access to work, school, medical care, housing and other vital services," said FTA Senior Adviser Carolyn Flowers. "Transit-oriented development helps ensure that the benefits of new transit lines extend throughout a community."

The pilot program was established under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and amended by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act.

To be eligible for a grant, the planning work must be associated with a transit project for which the community intends to seek funding through FTA's Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Program or that recently received funding through CIG.

Notice of the pilot fund grants was posted yesterday in the Federal Register.