Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, doing business as VTA, is a U.S. local government entity and transit authority serving Santa Clara County, California, that receives federal grant funding from the Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration to support public transportation operations, capital infrastructure, and vehicle procurement. VTA operates as a grant recipient (95% of recent awards are prime grants) and does not compete for federal contracts under set-aside designations or as a commercial vendor; its single firm-fixed-price federal contract award—a $10,950.64 purchase order from GSA's Federal Acquisition Service for automotive mechanical repairs in June 2024—is incidental to its primary role as a transit operator receiving formula and project grants.

VTA's federal funding concentrates overwhelmingly with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), which accounts for 114 of 132 awards in the active portfolio. Recent grant awards span multiple FTA programs and purposes. Major recent grants include $73.617 million under the Federal Transit Formula Grants program (CFDA 20.507, awarded June 25, 2026) for preventive maintenance labor, ADA operating expenses, vehicle replacement, and capital projects through June 2030; $47.743 million under the State of Good Repair Grants Program (CFDA 20.525, awarded August 17, 2026) for light rail signal improvements, grade-crossing safety enhancements, fiber-optic replacement, ticket vending machine upgrades, and trackway intrusion prevention through December 2032; and $5.771 million under the Federal Transit Formula Grants program (CFDA 20.507, awarded August 25, 2026) to cover operating expenses—salaries, wages, fuel, and security personnel costs—during the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Levi's Stadium from June through July 2026, with VTA projecting transport of at least 100,000 passengers across six World Cup match days. Additional recent grants include $4.295 million (Buses and Bus Facilities Formula, Competitive, and Low or No Emissions Programs, CFDA 20.526, August 20, 2026) and $4.582 million (same program, August 17, 2026) for hybrid diesel-electric bus procurement, $1.125 million under the Federal Transit Capital Investment Grants program (CFDA 20.500, August 17, 2026) for the Gilroy Station Area Plan integrating California High-Speed Rail infrastructure, and $2.5 million Community Project Funding (CFDA 20.534, August 25, 2025) for construction of the Cerone Bus Division Operations Command and Control Center.

Beyond FTA, VTA has received smaller grants from the Department of Transportation's Immediate Office of the Secretary of Transportation under the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program (CFDA 20.941)—$500,616 in September 2023 for real-time data collection on front-mounted bus bike racks and mobility device securement equipment, and $1.692 million in September 2023 for a multi-jurisdictional transit signal priority system across Santa Clara County. VTA also holds sub-awards from state and local pass-through entities, including operating-assistance sub-awards from California's Office of Emergency Services (January 31, 2025, COVID-19 pandemic response) and the California Department of Transportation (July 29, 2024, SR-17 improvements).

Activity has grown modestly, with six awards in 2022 to ten in 2026 year-to-date. Nine awards carry ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, creating recompete exposure for VTA's current portfolio. VTA executes all funded activities directly; the source identifies no sub-recipient activities across any prime grant award, indicating VTA performs all transit operations, maintenance, and capital work in-house. Performance of all work occurs in California, with administrative headquarters at 3331 N First Street, San Jose, California.