State of Good Repair Grants Program

The State of Good Repair Program (49 U.S.C. 5337) provides formula funding to assist in financing capital projects for existing fixed guideway systems (including rail, bus rapid transit, and passenger ferries) and high intensity motorbus systems (bus

The State of Good Repair Grants program is formula funding to assist state and local governmental authorities in financing capital projects to maintain public transportation systems in a state of good repair, including projects to maintain, replace, and rehabilitate: rolling stock; track; equipment , structures; signals and communications; stations; maintenance facilities; and implementing Transit Asset Management (TAM) plan. The Competitive Rail Vehicle Replacement Grant program is a discretionary grant program to assist in financing the replacement of rail rolling stock. All funding granted under the State of Good Repair Program, both formula and discretionary, must be for projects in a grant recipient's Transit Asset Management (TAM) plan.

Eligible applicants are state and local governmental authorities in urbanized areas. FTA will apportion funds to designated recipients in the urbanized areas with fixed guideway and high intensity motorbus transportation systems operating at least 7 years. The designated recipients will then allocate funds as appropriate to recipients that are state and local governmental authorities in the urbanized areas. Applicants should review the published Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for specific eligibility for the Competitive Rail Vehicle Replacement Grant Program.

Beneficiaries of funding include states and designated recipients. Public agencies may apply for funding and are beneficiaries, although private transportation companies may participate through contractual arrangements with public agency grantee. After allocation of funds, fixed-route operators, the general public, both users and non-users of public transportation, public agencies, and private transportation companies may benefit.

Resolution by an authorized public body approving the filing for an application; projects must be included in an urbanized area's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and approved by FTA; information must be provided on labor and relocation; environmental impact statement; legal opinion; coordinated regional planning documentation; maintenance certification; and compliance with certifications and assurances as compiled in FTA's Annual List of Certifications and Assurances. Cost will be in accordance with OMB Circular 2 CFR 200 for State and local governments. All recipients are required to have a transit asset management system in place by October 1, 2018 in order to be eligible for grants, and recipients must certify that the recipients comply with the rule issues under section 5326 (d) Transit Asset Management (TAM). Starting from FY 2019 (October 1, 2018), projects eligible for funding under the Section 5337 State of Good Repair Grants must be identified within the investment prioritization of a transit provider's TAM plan.

Funds may be used to assist State and local governmental authorities in financing capital projects to maintain public transportation systems in a state of good repair. Eligible projects include the maintenance, replacement and rehabilitation of rolling stock, track, line equipment and structures, signals and communications, power equipment and substations, passenger stations and terminals, security equipment and systems, maintenance facilities and equipment, operational support equipment (including computer hardware and software), and development and implementation of a transit asset management plan. Preventive maintenance is eligible for funding so long as it is specifically for fixed guideway systems and High Intensity Motorbus systems.

The funds apportioned under the State of Good Repair Program remain available to recipients to be obligated in grants during the year of appropriation plus three additional years or four fiscal years in total.

Projects must be in the Transit Asset Management (TAM) Plan of the recipient.

This program is subject to the provisions of OMB Circular 2 CFR 200 and FTA Circular 9050.1A. "Urbanized Areas Formula Grant Program Guidance," November 1, 2024. Applications are made to the regional offices of the Federal Transit Administration listed at https://www.transit.dot.gov/about/regional-offices/regional-offices Discretionary funding is awarded through a competitive process announced through a posted Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

Discretionary funding for the Competitive Rail Vehicle Replacement Grants includes four statutory considerations: A) the size of the rail system of the applicant; B) the amount of funds available to the applicant under this subsection; C) the age and condition of the rail rolling stock of the applicant that has exceeded or will exceed the useful service life of the rail rolling stock in the 5-year period following the grant; and D) whether the applicant has identified replacement of the rail vehicles as a priority in the investment prioritization portion of the transit asset management plan of the recipient pursuant to 49 CFR part 625.

An FTA grant award obligating Federal funds is reflected in a grant agreement. Grants are awarded electronically using FTA's electronic award system, TrAMS https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grantee-resources/teamtrams/transit-award-management-system-trams In order to access this system, a user name and password are needed and can be obtained by contacting the regional offices. Once the funds are reserved in FTA's electronic award system and the project information has been reviewed and approved by Headquarters, the recipient must execute the grant agreement to access the funds.

From the date of the application submittal in FTA's Transit Award Management System (TrAMS) the approximate time of award is 15 to 30 days. Contact Program Manager (listed at the bottom of the AL) for specific information on time frames.

Funding is made available annually through the appropriation process. Grants may be amended to add newly available funds for a continuing project.