Use funds to operate the transit facility and fixed route transit service

The Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration awarded the Kenaitze Indian Tribe $549,645 on January 29, 2026, under the Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit Program (CFDA 20.509) to operate a transit facility and fixed-route transit service on the Kenai Peninsula. The award funds operating assistance and administrative costs to maintain transit services serving Alaska Native and American Indian populations and the Kenai Peninsula Borough public communities across the Tribe's service area, which encompasses more than 15,000 square miles of rural Alaska including Kenai, Soldotna, Sterling, Nikiski, Kalifornsky, Cooper Landing, Funny River, and Kasilof. The Tribe, a federally recognized tribal government serving approximately 2,023 enrolled tribal members and roughly 4,740 Alaska Native and American Indian residents across the central Kenai Peninsula, provides comprehensive community services including public transit infrastructure and transportation programs funded through the Federal Transit Administration. Performance period runs through September 30, 2027, with work performed in Alaska. The Tribal Transit Program provides capital, planning, and operating assistance for public transportation in rural areas, with allocations made directly to tribes without project-selection criteria applied at the tribal level.

Purpose

The purpose is to use funds to operate the transit facility and fixed route transit service.

Activities

Activities to be performed in the operating assistance and administrative costs

Expected outcomes

Expected outcomes is the transit services will be maintained using operating funds

Intended beneficiaries

Alaska native and american indian and the kenai peninsula borough public communities