ROUTES Quarterly Newsletter - Spring 2021

U.S. Department of Transportation sent this bulletin at 06/04/2021 01:00 PM EDT

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The ROUTES (Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success) Initiative aims to address disparities in rural transportation infrastructure by developing user-friendly tools and information, aggregating  DOT resources into a single web resource, and providing technical assistance. If you want to learn more about ROUTES, or how it can help your community, visit the ROUTES Initiative website or reach the ROUTES team at rural@dot.gov.

ROUTES News

 Funding & Financing

RAISE Program Accepting Applications

Tribal Transportation Funding Webinar

Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Funding at DOT

FHWA-FRA Webinar on Funding for Railway-Highway Crossings

National Center for Mobility Management Updates

Grant Award Announcements

Active Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs)

Publications

Local Road Safety Plan DIY Toolkit 

Safety MATCH Program

GAO Intercity Rail

 

ROUTES Updates

New Resources Available on our Website

We have introduced several new resources on our website, in order to help transportation agencies access the resources available at the Department. These resources include:

  • A rural eligibility map that shows what is considered "rural" for several of the Department's discretionary grant programs, as well as financing through the TIFIA program
  • A NHTSA rural landing page which consolidates the resources available for rural roads, including upcoming NHTSA events

We hope to roll out additional new resources in the coming months, stay tuned!

Recording Available for February Webinar - TIFIA Rural Projects Initiative

February's TIFIA Rural Projects Initiative webinar has been posted to the ROUTES website. DOT's Build America Bureau provides loans in support of a variety of transportation projects across the nation. Traditionally, these loans have been used for larger projects in urbanized, metropolitan areas. In 2018 the Bureau took steps to make Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) financing more accessible to small communities through the Rural Project Initiative. This initiative places an emphasis on rural America's transportation needs and offers substantial benefits and savings for projects in rural areas. Eligible projects are able to borrow up to 49% of a project's cost at 1/2 of the U.S. Treasury rate, both of which are unique benefits to this program.

The recording and slides are available here.

ROUTES Is Hiring (Soon)!

Join the ROUTES team! We plan to post two full-time positions located in Washington, DC for individuals interested in rural transportation issues. These postings will be hosted on usajobs.gov. If you are interested in the positions, please be sure to create a USAJobs account beforehand and familiarize yourself with the application process. The positions will be posted in the next 1-3 months; we will send an announcement out when they are open.

Funding & Financing

 

RAISE Applications Due July 12

 

Applications are being accepted for this year's round of Rebuilding American Infrastructure Sustainably and Equitably (RAISE) grants (formerly known as BUILD and TIGER) through July 12. Projects for RAISE funding will be evaluated based on merit criteria that include safety, environmental sustainability, quality of life, economic competitiveness, state of good repair, innovation, and partnership. Within these criteria, the Department will prioritize projects that can demonstrate improvements to racial equity, reduce impacts of climate change and create good-paying jobs.

To provide technical assistance to prospective applicants, DOT is hosting a series of webinars during the FY 2021 RAISE grant application process. To register for the remaining webinars and access recordings of past webinars click here.

Planning Webinar with Office of Tribal Transportation

The ROUTES Initiative participated in a webinar hosted by the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) Office of Tribal Transportation (OTT) focused on innovative financing and transportation planning. The OTT administers the Tribal Transportation Program (TTP) and provides stewardship and oversight for direct funding agreements with 135 federally recognized Tribes. The OTT also provides support for all FHWA activities affecting tribal transportation.

The webinar recording is available here.

DOT Funding Report for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

FHWA released a report on Earth Day describing the funding opportunities for electric vehicles (EV) infrastructure projects. Several DOT funding and finance programs are available to plan for and build EV chargers; support workforce training for new technologies; and integrate EVs as part of strategies to address commuter, freight, and public transportation needs. The FHWA strongly encourages transportation partners in States, Tribes, Territories, MPOs, and FLMAs both to use existing DOT funding and finance programs to build out EV charging, as well as to use these programs to leverage private sector investment in such a national EV charging network. In addition to DOT, there are other Federal funding opportunities for EV infrastructure through programs such
as those in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

FHWA also announced the fifth round of Alternative Fuel Corridor designations. With the designation of alternative fuel corridors, FHWA is establishing a national network of alternative fueling and charging infrastructure along national highway system corridors. In total, the corridor designations comprise of 49 states and D.C. and cover 165,722 miles of the national highway system.

FHWA-FRA Joint Webinar: Exploring Federal Funding Sources and Resources for Rail Programs

On June 23, FHWA and FRA will host a webinar exploring the federal funding sources for rail programs. This joint webinar will be presented by FHWA's Railway-Highway Crossings (Section 130) Program. This program provides funds for the elimination of hazards at railway-highway crossings. The Section 130 Program has been correlated with a significant decrease in fatalities at railway-highway grade crossings. Since the Program's inception in 1987 through 2014, for which most recent data is available, fatalities at these crossings have decreased by 57 percent. The overall reductions in fatalities come despite an increase in the vehicle miles traveled on roadways and an increase in the passenger and freight traffic on the railways.

Register for the webinar here.

National Center for Mobility Management: Community Mobility Design Challenge & Data Standards Survey

The National Center for Mobility Management (NCMM) announced an opportunity to apply for Community Mobility Design Challenge 2021 grants. Nonprofit and government agencies that are federal funding recipients or subrecipients may apply for grants of up to $25,000 to create innovative mobility solutions for community members who face transportation barriers in advancing their personal well-being. NCMM is an FTA-funded technical assistance center. Learn more about the grants and download the application here. The application deadline is July 12, 2021.

NCMM is also seeking state and local input on transportation data standards. The NCMM Transportation Data Standards Survey will gather state and local transportation and human services stakeholders’ input on the landscape of collecting, reporting, sharing, and coordinating transportation-related data.  Survey results will be used to help the Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) address one of the transportation coordination challenges identified in the 2020 Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) Report to the President:  the need for transportation data collection guidance. 

Grant Award Announcements

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $19.6 million to 31 small shipyards in 15 states through the Small Shipyard Grant Program. The funds will help awardees modernize, increase productivity, and expand local employment opportunities while competing in the global marketplace. The program supports economic competitiveness through grants that can be used to purchase equipment or train employees. More information about the program can be found here.

Active Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs)

ROUTES maintains a running list of open NOFOs applicable to rural transportation. This list can be found here, along with historical information on these grants (including prior NOFOs).

All Federal grants, including transportation grants, can be found at grants.gov. To find transportation related funding opportunities, select "All Department of Transportation" under the "Agency" menu on the left-hand side.

Other Resources

Local Road Safety Plan DIY Resource

Local Road Safety Plans (LRSPs) are an FHWA proven safety countermeasure that local agencies can use to identify and address at-risk locations and deploy cost-effective safety solutions. To effectively reach all local agencies, last year FHWA launched the Local Road Safety Plan Do-It-Yourself tool.

The site includes resources local agencies and their supporting partners can use to develop these lifesaving plans.  The LRSP DIY site begins with an introduction page to orient users and follows with subsequent pages that walk users through the steps of the LRSP process.  The site contains training videos, downloadable templates, “local agency insights” videos where practitioners can learn from their peers, and example plans from other local agencies. 

Local & Tribal Road Safety MATCH Program

FHWA has launched the Local and Tribal Road Safety Mentoring, Assistance, Training, and Communication Help (MATCH) Program provides FREE, broad-based technical assistance to local and tribal agencies facing roadway safety challenges. The program connects agencies requesting assistance with volunteers who have specific expertise to help successfully address the identified challenges. Mentoring can be provided in the form of phone calls, email exchanges, web‐conferences, or site visits (on a limited basis). The level of mentoring varies depending on the Mentee's needs. Requesting agencies may specify how they would like to receive assistance when making the request (e.g., phone call from a Mentor, structured web-conference) or the MATCH Coordinator can suggest the best type of assistance.

More information, including applications instructions for mentors and mentees, is available here.

GAO Report on Intercity Rail

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report that examines the impact of commuter rail service in rural and small urban areas. Commuter rail is a widely used public transit alternative to driving between suburban communities and city centers, and in many areas of the country, transit agencies have extended their service areas further out from city centers to less urbanized communities. According to stakeholders GAO spoke with—including officials from commuter rail agencies, an industry association, and local organizations—commuter rail service provides a number of economic and quality-of-life benefits. For example, commuter rail agency officials noted that several large companies chose to locate along commuter rail corridors to draw on a more regional labor market, including from less urbanized areas. Stakeholders said that commuter rail could increase mobility and transportation options, as well as access to employment and essential services for individuals who live in the service area.

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