RESOURCES AND GRANTS FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES

The Areas of Persistent Poverty Program awards grants for planning, engineering, or development of technical or financing plans for projects that assist Areas of Persistent Poverty or Historically Disadvantaged Communities.

Program funds will be made available to install electric vehicle charging and alternative fuel in locations on public roads, schools, parks, and in publicly accessible parking facilities.

Program funds will be made available to deploy electric vehicle charging and hydrogen/propane/natural gas fueling infrastructure along designated alternative fuel corridors and in communities.

A Toolkit for Planning and Funding Rural Electric Mobility Infrastructure

The Ferry Service for Rural Communities Program makes federal resources available to states to ensure basic essential ferry service is provided to rural areas.

The Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive Program makes federal resources available to states and direct recipients to replace, rehabilitate and purchase buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities.

The Low or No Emission competitive program provides funding to state and local governmental authorities for the purchase or lease of zero-emission and low-emission transit buses as well as acquisition, construction, and leasing of required supporting facilities.

The grant funding is to be made available to a municipality or community owned utility (not including for-profit entities) to repair, rehabilitate, or replace its natural gas distribution pipeline systems or portions thereof or to acquire equipment to (1) reduce incidents and fatalities and (2) to avoid economic losses.

PROTECT Grants will support planning, resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk coastal infrastructure.

The RAISE program is a discretionary grant program for investments in surface transportation infrastructure that will have a significant local or regional impact. RAISE Grant Funds were authorized under the Local and Regional Assistance Program in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success (ROUTES) is an initiative to address disparities in rural transportation infrastructure by developing user-friendly tools and information, aggregating DOT resources, and providing technical assistance. The ROUTES Initiative aims to ensure rural transportation infrastructure’s unique challenges are considered in order to meet priority transportation goals of safety, mobility, and economic competitiveness.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) established the new Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) discretionary program with $5 billion in appropriated funds over the next 5 years. In fiscal year 2022 (FY22), up to $1 billion is available. The SS4A program funds regional, local, and Tribal initiatives through grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.

The Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program will support projects to improve and expand the surface transportation infrastructure in rural areas to increase connectivity, improve the safety and reliability of the movement of people and freight, and generate regional economic growth and improve quality of life.

The Transit Oriented Development (TOD) planning program provides funding for efforts associated with an eligible transit project.