2021 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning

The Pilot Program for TOD Planning helps support FTA’s mission of improving public transportation for America’s communities by providing funding to local communities to integrate land use and transportation planning around a new fixed guideway or core capacity improvement project. Per statute, any comprehensive planning funded through the program must examine ways to improve economic development and ridership, foster multimodal connectivity and accessibility, improve transit access for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, engage the private sector, identify infrastructure needs, and enable mixed-use development near transit stations. Additional information is available at: https://www.transit.dot.gov/TODPilot. Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO): Notice of Funding Opportunity for PILOT PROGRAM FOR TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT (TOD) PLANNING. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the opportunity to apply for $10,052,572 of funding under the Pilot Program for TOD Planning (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance #20.500). As required by federal transit law and subject to funding availability, funds will be awarded competitively to support comprehensive planning associated with new fixed guideway and core capacity improvement projects. FTA anticipates minimum grant awards of $250,000 and maximum grant awards of $2,000,000. Synopses and full announcement are posted on Grants.gov as opportunity FTA-2021-004-TPE-TODP. The Pilot Program for TOD Planning is intended to fund comprehensive planning that supports economic development, ridership, multimodal connectivity and accessibility, increased transit access for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and mixed-use development near transit stations. The program also encourages identification of infrastructure needs and engagement with the private sector. Consistent with statutory direction, FTA is seeking comprehensive planning projects covering an entire transit capital project corridor, rather than proposals that involve planning for individual station areas or only a small section of the corridor. To ensure any proposed planning work reflects the needs and aspirations of the local community and results in concrete, specific deliverables and outcomes, transit project sponsors must partner with entities with land use planning authority in the transit project corridor to conduct the planning work. Link and Instructions for attaching the supplemental form to the SF-424: All applicants must complete a supplemental form (PDF) specific to the Pilot Program for TOD Planning and attach it to their submission in Grants.gov. See section D of the NOFO for information about additional required application contents. Webinar: FTA will conduct a webinar for prospective applicants after the NOFO is published in the Federal Register. Further information will be posted on FTA’s website (https://www.transit.dot.gov/TODPilot) when available. Dates: An applicant must submit a proposal electronically by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on June 21, 2021. Any agency intending to apply should initiate the process of registering on the Grants.gov site immediately to ensure completion of registration before the submission deadline.