MassDOT's Rail & Transit Division today announced the Fiscal Year 2013 award recipients in the new MassDOT Community Transit Grant Program.
A total of 22 applicants received awards totaling more than $5.8 million. These FY13 grants awarded in a competitive process represent the first year federal and state transit funds have been awarded as part of the new single grant application.
The award recipients include regional transit authorities, private bus companies, and other transportation providers. A list of the award recipients is available on the Community Transit Grants website.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) provides financial assistance to states through a number of programs to develop new transit systems and improve, maintain, and operate existing systems.
This new grant program is a consolidation of several grant applications by the Community Transit Programs Unit and Regional Planning Agencies.
Are these grants _the_ state and federal funding for the Regional Transit Authorities? Or are they something extra?
Why does the Martha's Vineyard RTA get such a big grant, when its population is much less than other RTA districts such as Worcester and Lowell?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the questions. All of these grants are state and federal grant programs that are provided to Regional Transit Authorities, private non-Profits, private for-profits, municipalities, and state agencies in a competitive manner on an annual basis. However, these competitive grants only represent a portion of state and federal funding provided to Regional Transit Authorities.
The federal section 5311 program, for example, provides funding to rural transit providers. Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Franklin and Berkshire Regional Transit Authorities receive a larger share than other transit authorities because they provide all or a majority of their service in rural areas. The other Regional transit authorities receive funding that represents no more than 50% of the rural service they provide.
Posted by: boblothrope | June 06, 2012 at 05:38 PM