[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 51 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12902-12904]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-05152]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Transit Administration


Announcement of Fiscal Year 2026 Grants for Buses and Bus 
Facilities Program Project Selections

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of project selections and implementation guidance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Transit 
Administration (FTA) announces the award of $388,279,883 for 34 
projects under the FY 2026 Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities 
Competitive Program (Bus Competitive Program). This notice provides 
administrative guidance on project implementation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Successful applicants should contact 
the appropriate FTA Regional Office for information regarding applying 
for the funds or program-specific information. A list of Regional 
Offices can be found at https://www.transit.dot.gov/about/regional-offices/regional-offices. For all other questions, contact Kirsten 
Wiard-Bauer, Office of Program Management, at [email protected] 
or (202) 366-2053. A TDD is available at 1-800-877-8339 (TDD/FIRS).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Federal public transportation law (49 U.S.C. 
5339(b)) authorizes FTA to make competitive grants for the Bus 
Competitive Program.
    Federal public transportation law (49 U.S.C. 5338(a)(2)(M)) 
authorized $408,223,797 in FY 2026 funds for the Bus Competitive 
Program after an oversight takedown.
    On May 15, 2025, FTA published a joint Notice of Funding 
Opportunity (NOFO) announcing the availability of approximately $398 
million in FY 2025 Bus Competitive Program funds and approximately 
$1.10 billion in Low or No Emission (Low-No) Program funds (90 FR 
20737). FTA is electing to select additional projects from this NOFO 
using FY 2026 Bus Competitive Program funds, as well as available prior 
year funds. These funds will provide financial assistance to states and 
eligible public agencies to replace, rehabilitate, purchase, or lease 
buses, vans, and related equipment; and for capital projects to 
rehabilitate, purchase, construct, or lease bus-related facilities. In 
response to the NOFO, FTA received 479 eligible project proposals 
requesting approximately $6.8 billion in Federal funds. Project 
proposals were evaluated based on each applicant's

[[Page 12903]]

responsiveness to the program evaluation criteria outlined in the NOFO.
    Based on the criteria in the NOFO, FTA is funding 34 projects, as 
shown in Table 1, for a total of $388,279,883. A minimum of 15 percent 
of the amount made available for the Bus Competitive Program is set 
aside for projects located in rural areas, which is reflected in FTA's 
joint selections across FY 2025 and FY 2026. A statutory cap of 10 
percent for any one applicant in the Bus Competitive Program is 
reflected as well.
    Recipients selected for competitive funding are required to work 
with their FTA Regional Office to submit a grant application in FTA's 
Transit Award Management System (TrAMS) for the projects identified in 
the attached table to quickly obligate funds. A discretionary project 
identification number has been assigned to each project for tracking 
purposes and must be used in the TrAMS application. Grant applications 
must include only eligible activities applied for in the original 
project proposal.
    When the allocated amount is less than the requested amount, 
recipients must reduce scope or scale the project so that a complete 
phase or a usable segment of the originally proposed project is 
implemented. Amounts may be reduced because they were capped or scaled 
due to more funding being requested than available, ineligible expenses 
may have been removed from the funded project scope, or funding was 
allocated for only the low-emission elements of a mixed-emission 
project. In all such cases where the amount allocated is less than the 
amount requested, the recipient should work with its Regional Office to 
reduce the scope appropriately. Recipients may also provide additional 
local funds to complete a proposed project.
    Selected projects are eligible to incur costs under pre-award 
authority no earlier than Friday, February 20, 2026. Pre-award costs 
are incurred at your own risk, and the announcement that a project was 
selected does not guarantee that FTA will, in fact, obligate a grant 
for the funding. FTA is not required to reimburse pre-award costs if 
you do not receive an obligated grant or if the obligated grant is less 
than anticipated and is inadequate to cover all pre-award costs. 
Eligibility for reimbursement is contingent upon planning and 
environmental requirements having been met, among other factors. For 
more about FTA's policy on pre-award authority, please see the current 
FTA Apportionments, Allocations, and Program Information at https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/apportionments.
    Post-award reporting requirements include submission of Federal 
Financial Reports and Milestone Progress Reports in TrAMS (see FTA 
Circular 5010.1F). Recipients must comply with all applicable Federal 
statutes, regulations, executive orders, FTA circulars, and other 
Federal requirements in carrying out the project supported by the FTA 
grant. FTA emphasizes that recipients must follow all third-party 
procurement requirements set forth in Federal public transportation law 
(49 U.S.C. 5325(a)) and described in the FTA Third Party Contracting 
Guidance Circular (FTA Circular 4220.1G).
    Funds allocated in this announcement must be obligated in a grant 
by September 30, 2029.
    Technical Review and Evaluation Summary: The FTA assessed all 
project proposals that were submitted under the FY 2025 Buses and Bus 
Facilities Program and the Low-No Program competition. For information 
on the evaluation criteria, please refer to Federal Register Notice (91 
FR 1856): https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/15/2026-00643/announcement-of-fiscal-year-2025-grants-for-buses-and-bus-facilities-program-and-fiscal-year-2025.

Matthew J. Welbes,
Executive Director.

                          Table 1--FY 2026 Buses And Bus Facilities Project Selections
                                 [Note: Some projects have multiple project IDs]
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     State              Recipient                    Project ID               Project description       Award
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AK.............  Manokotak Village.....  D2026-BUSC-100...................  Purchase expansion bus      $205,000
AK.............  University of Alaska    D2026-BUSC-101...................  Expand and                 5,440,000
                  Fairbanks.                                                 rehabilitate
                                                                             maintenance facility.
CA.............  Antelope Valley         D2026-BUSC-102...................  Construct operations      16,640,000
                  Transit Authority.                                         and maintenance
                                                                             facility.
CA.............  City of Santa Ana.....  D2026-BUSC-103...................  Rehabilitate and           3,472,000
                                                                             replace bus
                                                                             infrastructure.
CA.............  Foothill Transit......  D2026-BUSC-104...................  Construct a mobility      20,800,000
                                                                             hub.
CA.............  Golden Gate Bridge,     D2026-BUSC-105...................  Relocate bus transit      25,600,000
                  Highway &                                                  center.
                  Transportation
                  District.
CA.............  Orange County           D2026-BUSC-106...................  Purchase safety and          960,000
                  Transportation                                             security equipment
                  Authority.                                                 for bus facilities.
CA.............  San Diego Metropolitan  D2026-BUSC-107...................  Construct bus transit     14,680,000
                  Transit System (MTS).                                      center.
DE.............  Delaware Department of  D2026-BUSC-108...................  Rehabilitate buses....    14,260,000
                  Transportation.
FL.............  City of Gainesville...  D2026-BUSC-109...................  Purchase replacement      10,263,750
                                                                             buses, construct bus
                                                                             transfer station, and
                                                                             improve bus stops.
FL.............  Florida Department of   D2026-BUSC-110...................  Purchase replacement       9,270,640
                  Transportation obo                                         buses.
                  Central Florida
                  Regional
                  Transportation
                  Authority (LYNX).
HI.............  Honolulu Department of  D2026-BUSC-111...................  Purchase replacement      11,569,965
                  Transportation                                             buses and related
                  Services.                                                  equipment.
IA.............  Des Moines Area         D2026-BUSC-112...................  Expand bus facility...    20,000,000
                  Regional Transit
                  Authority.
IL.............  Springfield Mass        D2026-BUSC-113...................  Construct bus fueling      6,733,300
                  Transit District.                                          station.
LA.............  New Orleans Regional    D2026-BUSC-114...................  Purchase replacement      27,200,000
                  Transit Authority                                          buses and
                  (NORTA).                                                   rehabilitate two
                                                                             operations and
                                                                             maintenance
                                                                             facilities.
MD.............  Maryland Transit        D2026-BUSC-115...................  Purchase replacement         336,000
                  Administration obo                                         vehicles.
                  Transit Services of
                  Frederick County.
MI.............  Ann Arbor Area          D2026-BUSC-116...................  Purchase new bus           7,220,095
                  Transportation                                             facility.
                  Authority.
MO.............  Kansas City Area        D2026-BUSC-117...................  Purchase replacement      13,333,000
                  Transportation                                             buses and
                  Authority.                                                 rehabilitate bus
                                                                             facility.
NC.............  City of Durham........  D2026-BUSC-118...................  Purchase replacement       6,142,400
                                                                             buses.
NC.............  Research Triangle       D2026-BUSC-119...................  Expand and                17,718,750
                  Regional Public                                            rehabilitate
                  Transportation                                             operations and
                  Authority dba                                              maintenance facility.
                  GoTriangle.

[[Page 12904]]

 
NC.............  Town of Chapel Hill...  D2026-BUSC-120...................  Purchase replacement       8,802,268
                                                                             vehicles and safety
                                                                             training equipment.
ND.............  North Dakota            D2026-BUSC-121...................  Purchase replacement       5,070,000
                  Department of                                              buses.
                  Transportation.
NV.............  Regional                D2026-BUSC-122...................  Purchase replacement       8,843,449
                  Transportation                                             buses and related
                  Commission of                                              equipment.
                  Southern Nevada.
NY.............  Central New York        D2026-BUSC-123...................  Construct bus             28,800,000
                  Regional                                                   maintenance, storage,
                  Transportation                                             and administrative
                  Authority (CNYRTA).                                        facility.
NY.............  New York City           D2026-BUSC-124...................  Construct and             10,000,000
                  Department of                                              rehabilitate bus
                  Transportation.                                            stops.
NY.............  Niagara Frontier        D2026-BUSC-125...................  Rehabilitate three bus    21,600,000
                  Transportation                                             facilities.
                  Authority.
OR.............  Salem Area Mass         D2026-BUSC-126...................  Construct bus transit      3,000,000
                  Transit District.                                          center.
PR.............  Puerto Rico Highways    D2026-BUSC-127...................  Purchase expansion         2,477,341
                  and Transportation                                         buses and
                  Authority obo                                              rehabilitate bus
                  Municipality of                                            terminal.
                  Aguada.
PR.............  Puerto Rico Highways    D2026-BUSC-128...................  Purchase expansion         1,182,550
                  and Transportation                                         buses and construct
                  Authority obo                                              bus stops.
                  Municipality of San
                  German.
TN.............  City of Clarksville...  D2026-BUSC-129 and D2026-BUSC-130  Construct bus transit     16,000,000
                                                                             center.
VA.............  Petersburg Area         D2026-BUSC-131...................  Purchase replacement      23,820,750
                  Transit.                                                   buses and construct
                                                                             operations and
                                                                             maintenance facility.
VA.............  Transportation          D2026-BUSC-132...................  Purchase replacement      10,620,000
                  District Commission                                        buses.
                  of Hampton Roads.
WA.............  Kitsap County Public    D2026-BUSC-133...................  Construct bus driver      15,000,000
                  Transportation                                             training facility.
                  Benefit Area
                  Authority (DBA Kitsap
                  Transit).
WA.............  Sauk-Suiattle Indian    D2026-BUSC-134...................  Purchase replacement       1,218,625
                  Tribe.                                                     buses and construct
                                                                             bus facility.
                                                                                                   -------------
                    Total..............  .................................  ......................   388,279,883
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[FR Doc. 2026-05152 Filed 3-16-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-57-P