Federal Transit Administration

The Federal Transit Administration, a sub-agency of the Department of Transportation, funds and procures services that improve safety, accessibility, efficiency, and innovation in public transportation systems across the United States through both competitive grants to transit operators and service contracts for research, compliance, and administrative support.

The FTA operates a highly active contract portfolio totaling 3,908 awards worth $3.24 billion in combined potential value since 1989, with $2.49 billion obligated to date. Recent contract activity averaged 170 awards in 2022, 185 in 2023, 208 in 2024, 161 in 2025, and 137 year-to-date in 2026, with the most recent recorded award dated October 1, 2026. Contract competitive concentration is fragmented among 538 distinct prime contractors; the top five by award count (Guidehouse Inc. with 50 awards, Holmes & Company L.L.C. with 34, Dickey-Tuba Group LLC and Pangea Consulting LLC each with 30, and Tscb Enterprise LLC with 29) account for only 20 percent of recent awards. By potential value, the top five are led by Urban Engineers Inc. at $69.6 million and Guidehouse Inc. at $61.3 million across their respective award portfolios, collectively representing 7 percent of combined potential value. The portfolio skews heavily toward unrestricted procurement: 81 percent of awards carry no set-aside designation, with the remaining 19 percent split primarily among Total Small Business awards (11 percent), 8(a) awards both sole-source and competitive (5 percent combined), and scattered awards in Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, HUBZone, and women-owned categories.

The FTA's grant footprint is substantially larger, with 56,310 total awards obligating $421.92 billion in federal dollars since 1992, supporting $625.31 billion in total project value when non-federal shares are included. Recent grant activity closed at 1,898 awards in 2022, 2,177 in 2023, 1,925 in 2024, 1,920 in 2025, and 1,242 year-to-date in 2026, distributed across 1,732 distinct recipients. Grant recipient concentration is highly fragmented by award count (top five recipients hold 4 percent of recent awards) but moderately concentrated by federal dollars obligated (top five recipients hold 12 percent). The Metropolitan Transportation Authority leads by federal dollars at $32.35 billion across 59 awards, followed by Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority with $6.74 billion, New Jersey Transit Corporation with $4.46 billion, and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority with $3.29 billion. The grant assistance mix is dominated by Formula Grants (56 percent of awards) and Project Grants (42 percent), with Cooperative Agreements accounting for 1 percent.

Current contract opportunities include a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) soliciting applied research projects on safety, accessibility, and mobility in public transportation (individual awards typically $150,000 to $500,000, due October 30, 2026), a pre-solicitation for FTA Closeout Support targeting small business (due October 13, 2026), and a sources-sought notice for Knowledge Transfer and Information Dissemination support services (due September 11, 2026, now closed). Current grant opportunities include the FY26 Bus Safety, Accessibility, and Innovation Research Program offering up to $10 million in competitive Cooperative Agreement funding for bus safety and innovation projects (due September 28, 2026), the Buses and Bus Facilities Program offering approximately $21 million in grants for bus and facility capital projects (due September 21, 2026), and the Low or No Emission Grant Program offering approximately $589 million in grants for zero-emission and low-emission bus acquisition and facilities (due September 21, 2026).

The Federal Transit Administration seeks to improve public transportation by assisting state and local governments with planning, implementation, and financing of public transportation projects.