Federal Transit Administration in the United States

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) (formerly the Urban Mass Transportation
Administration) was established as an operating administration of the
Department of Transportation by section 1 of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1968
(5 U.S.C. app. 1), effective July 1, 1968. FTA’s mission is to assist in developing
improved mass transportation, encourage the planning and establishment of
areawide mass transportation systems, and provide financial assistance to State
and local governments to ?nance mass transportation systems and carry out
national transit goals and policy.

Programs

Capital Investment

Grants are authorized to assist in ?nancing the acquisition, construction, reconstruction,
and improvement of facilities and equipment for use in mass transportation
service in urban areas. There are three categories of funds available under
the capital investment program: ?xed guideway modernization, rolling stock
renewal, safety-related improvements, and signal and power modernization; new starts funds for construction of new ?xed guideway service; and bus funds
for acquiring buses and rolling stock, ancillary equipment, and the construction
of bus facilities.

For further information, call 202–366–2053.

Elderly and Persons With Disabilities

The program provides financial assistance to private nonpro?t agencies to meet the
transportation needs of elderly persons and persons with disabilities where
services provided by public operators are unavailable, insuf?cient, or inappropriate;
to public bodies approved by the State to coordinate services for elderly persons
or persons with disabilities; or to public bodies which certify to the Governor that
no nonpro?t corporation or association is readily available in an area to provide the
service. Funds are allocated by formula to the States. Local organizations apply
for funding through a designated State agency.

For further information, call 202–366–2053.

Job Access and Reverse Commute Grants

The program makes funding available to public agencies and new starts funds for construction of new ?xed guideway service; and bus funds
for acquiring buses and rolling stock, ancillary equipment, and the construction
of bus facilities.

For further information, call 202–366–2053.

Job Access and Reverse Commute Grants

The program makes funding available to public agencies and nonpro?t organizations to pay the capital and operating costs of delivering
new or expanded job access or reverse commute services, and to promote the
use of transit during nontraditional work hours, as well as encourage employerbased
transportation strategies and use of transit pass programs. The program
provides competitive grants for job access projects implementing new or expanded
transportation services for transporting welfare recipients and low-income
persons to and from jobs and needed employment support services such as
child care and reverse commute projects implementing new or expanded general
purpose public transportation services to transport residents of urban, rural, and
suburban areas to suburban employment centers.

For further information, call 202–366–0176. Internet, www.fta.dot.gov/funding/grants.

Non-Urbanized Area Assistance

The Administration provides capital and operating assistance for public
transportation in non-urbanized areas. Funds are allocated to the Governor, and
the program is administered at the State level by the designated transportation
agency. Assistance is provided for planning, administrative, and program
development activities; coordination of public transportation programs; vehicle
acquisition; and other capital investments in support of transit services tailored
to the needs of elderly individuals and individuals with disabilities and other
individuals who depend upon transit for their basic mobility.

Planning

The program provides financial assistance in meeting the transportation planning needs of
metropolitan planning organizations by allocating funds to States which, in
turn, they allocate to the metropolitan planning organizations. Assistance
is available for transportation planning, technical assistance studies,
demonstrations, management training, and cooperative research.

For further information, call 202–366–6385.

Research and Technology

The Administration seeks to improve public transportation for America’s communities
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 281 by delivering products and services
that are valued by its customers and by assisting transit agencies in better
meeting the needs of their customers. To accomplish these goals, it partners with
the transportation industry to undertake research, development, and education
that will improve the quality, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of transit in
America and that leads to increases in transit ridership.

Transit research and technology efforts include joint partnership agreements
with both public and private research organizations, transit providers, and
industry to promote innovation in public transportation services, management,
and operational practices; advanced technologies that assist the study, design,
and demonstration of ?xed-guideways, bus and rapid transit, fuel-cell-powered
transit buses, and advanced propulsion control for rail transit; and international
mass transportation programs that promote American transit products and
services overseas.

For further information, call 202–366–4052. Internet, www.fta.dot.gov/research.

Rural Transportation Assistance

The Rural Transportation Assistance Program allocates funds annually to the States to
provide assistance for transit research, technical assistance, training, and related
support activities for transit providers serving non-urbanized areas. Additional
funds are used at the national level for developing training materials, developing
and maintaining a national clearinghouse on rural transit activities and information,
and providing technical assistance through peer practitioners to promote
exemplary techniques and practices.

For further information, call 202–366–2053.

Safety

The Administration’s safety program supports State and local agencies in ful?lling their responsibility for the safety and security of urban mass transportation facilities and
services, through the encouragement and sponsorship of safety and security
planning, training, information collection and analysis, drug control programs,
system/safety assurance reviews, generic research, and other cooperative
government/industry activities.

For further information, call 202–366–4020.

Training and Technical Assistance

Through the National Transit Institute (NTI), the Administration develops and
offers training courses for improving transit planning, operations, workforce
performance, and productivity. NTI courses are conducted at sites across
the United States on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from multimodal
planning to management development, third-party contracting, safety, and
security. Current NTI course offerings are available online at www.ntionline.com.

For further information, call 202–366–6635. For a complete list of Federal Transit
Administration of?ces, go to www.fta.dot.gov.

For further information, contact the Office of Communications and Congressional Affairs, Federal Transit Administration, Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. Phone, 202–366–4043. Internet, http://www.fta.dot.gov.