Urbanized Area Formula Grants Program (49 USC 5307)

Description: Grants to finance the acquisition, construction, cost-effective leasing, maintenance, planning, and improvement of facilities and equipment for use by operation, lease, contract, or otherwise in mass transportation service and for urbanized areas with populations under 200,000 to assist with the payment of operating expenses to improve or to continue such service by operation, lease, contract or otherwise.

Eligible Recipients: Funding is made available to designated recipients that must be public entities with the legal authority to receive and dispense Federal funds. Governors, responsible local officials and publicly owned operators of transit services are to designate a recipient to apply for, receive, and dispense funds for transportation management areas pursuant to 49USCA5307(a)(2). Generally, a transportation management area is an urbanized area with a population of 200,000 or over. The Governor or Governor’s designee is the designated recipient for urbanized areas between 50,000 and 200,000.

Eligible Purposes: Planning, engineering design and evaluation of transit projects and other technical transportation-related studies; capital investments in bus and bus-related activities such as replacement of buses, overhaul of buses, rebuilding of buses, crime prevention and security equipment and construction of maintenance and passenger facilities; and capital investments in new and existing fixed guideway systems including rolling stock, overhaul and rebuilding of vehicles, track, signals, communications, and computer hardware and software. All preventive maintenance and some Americans With Disabilities Act complementary paratransit service are considered capital costs.

Allocation of Funding: Funding is apportioned on the basis of legislative formulas. For areas of 50,000 to 199,999 in population, the formula is based on population and population density. For areas with populations of 200,000 and more, the formula is based on a combination of bus revenue vehicle miles, bus passenger miles, fixed guideway revenue vehicle miles, and fixed guideway route miles as well as population and population density.

Match: The Federal share is not to exceed 80 percent of the net project cost for capital and planning assistance. The Federal share may be 90 percent for the cost of vehicle-related equipment attributable to compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Clean Air Act. The Federal share may also be 90 percent for projects or portions of projects related to bicycles. The Federal share for transit systems in areas 50,000 to 199,000 in population may not exceed 50 percent of the net cost for operating assistance. Operating assistance is not available for transit systems in areas of 200,000 and greater.

Funding Availability: Year appropriated plus three years

Reports: (1) Progress reports; (2) Construction reports where applicable. 

Records Retention: Recipient is required to retain intact, for 3 years following submission of the final expenditure report, pending resolution of audit findings, all project contract documents, financial records, and supporting documents.

For More Information Contact: 225-379-3060.​​