Assistance program
Federal Transit Formula Grants
$124.3 Billion committed in FY2018–FY2026
- Agency
- Federal Transit Administration, Transportation, Department of
- Assistance
- Formula Grants
- CFDA number
- 20.507
- What it does
- The Urbanized Area Formula Funding Program (49 U.S.C. 5307) makes federal resources available to local and regional government authorities and states for transit capital and operating assistance and for transportation-related planning in urbanized areas. An urbanized area is an 'Urban Area', as defined and designated in the most recent decennial census by the Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census, that encompasses a population of not less than 50,000. In addition, a Passenger Ferry Grant Program sub-component 5307(h) remains in this program. It should be noted that 20.532 Passenger Ferry Grant Program, Electric or Low-Emitting Ferry Pilot Program, and Ferry Service for Rural Communities Program is the Assistance Listing for all other federal funding for Ferry projects.
- Who benefits
- The general public (both users and non-users of public transportation); segments of the general public defined by age, disability, or low income; and publicly owned operators of public transportation services. Under certain conditions, private non-profit organizations and their constituents may also benefit from the assistance.
- Who applies
- Funds will be made available for urbanized areas (as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau and in 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53) through states and designated recipients, which must be public entities and have the legal capacity to receive and dispense federal funds. A state's or territory's Governor, responsible local officials, and publicly owned operators of mass transportation services must jointly select the designated recipient(s) for an urbanized area with a population of 200,000 or more. The Governor or her/his designee acts as the designated recipient for an urbanized area with a population of 50,000 to 199,999. Recipients must submit a program of projects detailing how the funds will be used and by whom to FTA; submit a program application to FTA; enter into formal agreements with FTA; and certify that certain public participation requirements have been met.
- Authorized by
- Public Law 117-58; 49 U.S.C. § 5307
- Public Law 116-136
- Public Law 116-260
- Public Law 117-2
- 49 U.S.C. § 5340
- Program site
- http://www.transit.dot.gov/ ↗
Committed by fiscal year
* FY2026 is year-to-date — the fiscal year is still in progress, so its total is still filling in. The striped band and dashed line mark that provisional stretch.
Top recipients
By dollars committed.
Administering agencies
By dollars committed.
How to read these numbers
- Committed through this program
Money committed under this assistance listing (its CFDA program), counted in the year each action happened.
- How it's paid
Most programs pay out one way — a grant, or a direct payment to individuals; the flow bar only appears when a program genuinely mixes types.
- Some recipients aren't itemized
For entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, the government reports one aggregate instead of naming tens of millions of people, so the recipient roster isn't part of the public record.
- Awards, counted once
An award count is the number of distinct awards with at least one action that year — each counted once, however many times it was amended.
- The colored bars
Every bar on this page splits by how the money moves:
Direct payments