Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority

Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority, doing business as Carta, is a U.S. local government transit authority headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that receives federal grant funding as a prime recipient to support regional transit operations, capital improvements, and planning initiatives. Carta operates as a designated recipient under multiple Federal Transit Administration (FTA) formula grant programs and does not hold federal contracts or compete as a prime contractor; the organization's federal footprint consists entirely of grant awards from the Department of Transportation.

Carta's customer concentration is nearly absolute: the Federal Transit Administration accounts for 104 of 111 total awards in the source data, representing the vast majority of the organization's $222 million in combined federal obligations. The remaining awards split across the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (3 awards), the National Science Foundation (2 awards), and one-off awards from the Department of Transportation's Office of the Secretary and Federal Highway Administration. This concentration reflects Carta's core mission as a designated recipient for FTA Section 5307 (Federal Transit Formula Grants), Section 5339 (Buses and Bus Facilities), Section 5310 (Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities), Section 5313 (Transit Planning), and Section 5337 (State of Good Repair) programs.

Representative grant work includes a $7.374 million FY 2025 operating assistance award under CFDA 20.507 for fixed-route bus service, paratransit, and specialized services in the Chattanooga urbanized area (awarded February 23, 2026); a $15.473 million FY 2018–2019 project grant under CFDA 20.526 (July 2, 2021) for purchase of five all-electric replacement vehicles and 20 diesel fixed-route buses; a $1.655 million grant under CFDA 20.507 (February 2, 2026) supporting short- and long-range transit planning including transit development plan creation, operational analysis, and fleet planning; and a $787,500 project grant under CFDA 20.500 (May 20, 2026) for the Brainerd Road/Lee Highway Corridor Transit-Oriented Development Capacity Study, a comprehensive feasibility assessment for bus rapid transit infrastructure. Carta also received a cooperative agreement from the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (October 1, 2024) to re-imagine public transportation infrastructure, technology, and business models for mid-size cities with focus on sustainability and energy efficiency.

Activity has remained modest and steady—ranging from two awards in 2022 to five in 2024, with four awards in 2026 to date—reflecting the predictable annual cycle of formula grant allocations rather than competitive discretionary growth. Carta serves as a pass-through designee in several awards, designating subrecipients such as Catoosa County Transit for capital bus purchases and equipment installation, and Orange Grove Center, Signal Centers, and the Southeast Tennessee Development District Agency on Aging and Disability for paratransit and specialized mobility projects targeting seniors and individuals with disabilities. In a research capacity, Carta acts as a sub-recipient under a Vanderbilt University prime grant (June 4, 2025) providing project management and community outreach for on-demand transit demand modeling and operationalization. The organization's grant work is bounded by FTA third-party procurement guidelines and suspension and debarment compliance requirements, making vendor selection and oversight a core administrative function.