Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit Program

$10.5 Billion committed in FY2018–FY2026

Agency: Federal Transit Administration, Transportation, Department of
Assistance: Formula Grants
CFDA number: 20.509
What it does: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5311, FTA apportions or awards funds for planning, public transportation capital projects, operating costs, job access reverse commute projects, and the acquisition of public transportation service to States and Indian Tribes located in rural areas (those with a population under 50,000). The Section 5311 program supports both the maintenance of existing public transportation services and the expansion of those services through the following program goals: (1) Enhancing access to health care, shopping, education, employment, public services, and recreation in rural areas; (2) Assisting in the maintenance, development, improvement, and use of public transportation systems in rural areas; (3) Encouraging and facilitating the most efficient use of all transportation funds used to provide passenger transportation in rural areas through the coordination of programs and services; (4) Providing financial assistance to help carry out national goals related to mobility for all, including seniors, individuals with disabilities, and low-income individuals; (5) Increasing availability of transportation options through investments in intercity bus services; (6) Assisting in the development and support of intercity bus transportation; (7) Encouraging mobility management, employment-related transportation alternatives, joint development practices, and transit-oriented development (TOD); and (8) Providing for the participation of private transportation providers in rural public transportation.
Who benefits: The general public, both users and nonusers, and private and public providers of public transportation in nonurbanized areas.
Who applies: Only designated State agencies and Indian Tribes may apply directly to FTA for grants. Eligible sub-recipients may include State agencies, local public bodies and agencies thereof, nonprofit organizations, Indian tribes, and operators of public transportation services, including intercity bus service, in rural areas. Private for-profit operators of transit or paratransit services may participate in the program only through contracts with eligible recipients. Private intercity bus operators may participate as subrecipients or through contracts. Urbanized areas, as defined by the Bureau of the Census, are not eligible. For the Public Transportation on Indian Reservations Program, eligible applicants include federally recognized Indian tribes or Alaska Native villages, groups, or communities as identified by the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs. Additionally, applicants must be located and provide service in a rural area with a population of 50,000 or less.

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.

How the money flows

Committed dollars by how this program's money is paid out.

Direct payments
$29.2M
<1%
Grants
$10.5B
100%

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

Source

USAspending.gov ↗

Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit Program

$10.5 Billion committed in FY2018–FY2026

Agency: Federal Transit Administration, Transportation, Department of
Assistance: Formula Grants
CFDA number: 20.509
What it does: Pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 5311, FTA apportions or awards funds for planning, public transportation capital projects, operating costs, job access reverse commute projects, and the acquisition of public transportation service to States and Indian Tribes located in rural areas (those with a population under 50,000). The Section 5311 program supports both the maintenance of existing public transportation services and the expansion of those services through the following program goals: (1) Enhancing access to health care, shopping, education, employment, public services, and recreation in rural areas; (2) Assisting in the maintenance, development, improvement, and use of public transportation systems in rural areas; (3) Encouraging and facilitating the most efficient use of all transportation funds used to provide passenger transportation in rural areas through the coordination of programs and services; (4) Providing financial assistance to help carry out national goals related to mobility for all, including seniors, individuals with disabilities, and low-income individuals; (5) Increasing availability of transportation options through investments in intercity bus services; (6) Assisting in the development and support of intercity bus transportation; (7) Encouraging mobility management, employment-related transportation alternatives, joint development practices, and transit-oriented development (TOD); and (8) Providing for the participation of private transportation providers in rural public transportation.
Who benefits: The general public, both users and nonusers, and private and public providers of public transportation in nonurbanized areas.
Who applies: Only designated State agencies and Indian Tribes may apply directly to FTA for grants. Eligible sub-recipients may include State agencies, local public bodies and agencies thereof, nonprofit organizations, Indian tribes, and operators of public transportation services, including intercity bus service, in rural areas. Private for-profit operators of transit or paratransit services may participate in the program only through contracts with eligible recipients. Private intercity bus operators may participate as subrecipients or through contracts. Urbanized areas, as defined by the Bureau of the Census, are not eligible. For the Public Transportation on Indian Reservations Program, eligible applicants include federally recognized Indian tribes or Alaska Native villages, groups, or communities as identified by the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs. Additionally, applicants must be located and provide service in a rural area with a population of 50,000 or less.