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Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program (Bus Program) - FY 2025

Agency: U.S. Department of Transportation
CFDA: 20.526
Federal FON: FTA-2025-007-TPM-BUS
Office: Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Office of Program Management
Multipart Grant: No
Next Due: 07/14/2025 (Application)
Solicitation Date: 05/14/2025
   
Match Required: Yes
Match Type: Unspecified
Actual Funds: $398,000,000 (Confirmed)
Summary:

The purpose of this program is to increase access to jobs, health care facilities, recreational activities, and commercial activity by enhancing safety and renewing transit systems through the deployment of modern buses and associated equipment and facilities. Funding will support capital projects to replace, rehabilitate, purchase, or lease buses and related equipment, or to rehabilitate, purchase, construct, or lease bus-related facilities.

Eligible projects include:

  • Purchasing, leasing, or rehabilitating buses regardless of propulsion type or emissions
  • Purchasing, leasing, rehabilitating, or constructing bus-related facilities and equipment, regardless of propulsion type or emissions

Funding may be used for workforce development activities, including retraining the existing workforce, registered apprenticeships, and other joint labor-management training programs. Funding may also be used for incidental costs, such as administration expenses, if the project includes and results in an eligible capital asset being leased, purchased, or built.

Program Office Notes:

The program officer confirmed the application deadline.

Last Updated: May 16, 2025

Eligibility Notes:

Eligible applicants are:

  • Designated recipients
  • States, including territories and Washington, D.C.
  • Local government authorities
  • Federally recognized Indian tribes

Except for Indian tribes, applicants must allocate funds to or operate fixed-route bus services.

Except for projects proposed by Indian tribes, all projects in rural areas must be submitted by a state either individually or as part of a consolidated state application. States and other eligible applicants may also submit consolidated applications for projects in urbanized areas; however, the same project may not be submitted in multiple applications.

Applications may include named partnerships with other entities, such as specific vehicle manufacturers, equipment vendors, owners or operators of related facilities, and project consultants. If a single project involves multiple public transportation providers, such as when an agency acquires vehicles that will be operated by another agency, the application must include a statement detailing the role of each agency.

Projects may be implemented by award recipients or their subrecipients. Eligible subrecipients are all otherwise eligible applicants and private nonprofit organizations engaged in public transportation. Eligible subrecipients are not required to allocated funds to or operate fixed-route bus services.

Applicants may submit a project to both this program and the funding agency's Low or No Emission Grant Program (Low-No Program), known in eCivis Grants Network as US14557, and are encouraged to submit projects under both programs when practicable. Applicants applying to both programs must submit the materials twice, once through each funding opportunity number listed for the programs, but will use the same supplemental form to apply to either or both programs.

Previous award recipients include:

  • City of Davis (CA)
  • City of Loveland Transit (CO)
  • Chatham Area Transit Authority (GA)
  • Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority (AZ)
  • Madison County Mass Transit District (IL)

Refer to the Award file for additional information on previous award recipients.

Eligible Applicants:
Local Government
Consortia
Native American Tribe
State Government
Application Notes:

Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on July 14, 2025.

The program officer confirmed the application deadline.

Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov. Mailed and faxed submissions will not be accepted.

Applications must include:

  • SF 424
  • Supplemental form
  • Supporting documents
  • Zero-emission fleet transition plan (if applicable)

The following are required in order to submit an application:

  • Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
  • SAM (System for Award Management) registration

Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam.

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • Demonstration of need
  • Demonstration of benefits
  • Planning and local or regional prioritization
  • Local financial commitment
  • Project implementation strategy
  • Technical, legal, and financial capacity

Refer to the NOFA file for additional application information.

Match Required: Yes
Match Type: Unspecified
Actual Funds: $398,000,000 (Confirmed)
Match Notes:

In general, applicants must provide at least a 20 percent match; however, applicants need provide only a 15 percent match for transit buses that are compliant with the Clean Air Act or that are accessible to people with disabilities, and only a 10 percent match for equipment and components of facilities that are related to low- or zero-emission buses or that make facilities accessible to people with disabilities.

Funding Notes:

Approximately $398 million is available to support awards through this program. There is no minimum award amount, and the maximum award amount is 10 percent of the total funding available.

At least 15 percent of the total funding available will be allocated to projects in rural areas.

Funding selections will be made within 75 days of the application due date.

The funding agency will rate projects higher if the award can be obligated within 12 months of the project selection announcement.

For zero-emission projects or components of zero-emission projects, 5 percent of the total award amount must be used for workforce development, unless the applicant certifies less or no funding is needed for this purpose.

For low- and standard-emission projects, 0.5 percent of the requested award amount may be used for workforce development training, and an additional 0.5 percent may be used for training at the National Transit Institute (NTI).

Funds may not be used for:

  • The development or deployment of prototype vehicles
  • Costs incurred before the project selection announcement

For FY 2024, 55 awards were distributed through this program. For FY 2023, 47 awards ranging from $233,760 to $47 million were distributed. Refer to the Award file for details.

Contacts:

Kirsten Wiard-Bauer
(202) 366-2053
FTALowNoBusNOFO@dot.gov

Agency Address
Office of Program Management
Federal Transit Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20590

Contact Notes:

Questions should be directed to Kirsten Wiard-Bauer.

Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.

The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.

Files:
NOFA File: US16189_NOFA_FY2025.pdf (375.4 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US16189_Announcement_FY2025.pdf (182.4 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US16189_SupplementalForm_FY2025.pdf (799.7 Kb)
Award File: US16189_Award_FY2025.pdf (3.3 Mb)
File Notes:

The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The Announcement file contains the official application notice for this program. The SupplementalForm file contains the required supplemental form for the application. The Award file contains information on previous award recipients. Additional program resources can be found online at www.transit.dot.gov/bus-program.

May 16, 2025
The program officer confirmed the application deadline. The Application section has been updated accordingly.

Grant Keywords
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Grant Categories
Community Development
Training & Vocational Services
Environment/Natural Resources
Rural Issues
Human Services
Transportation
Social Justice