Biden-Harris Administration Strengthens Transit Manufacturing Industry with $1.5 Billion from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Put More American-Made Buses on the Road: FTA announced approximately $1.5 billion in funding to support 117 projects that will improve public transportation in 47 states. The Biden-Harris Administration is helping agencies replace old buses running on dirtier, expensive fuels by delivering modern and zero-emission buses, manufactured by American workers, that will connect more people to where they need to go.  

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $300 Million in Grants to Modernize America’s Ferry Systems: FTA announced grants totaling nearly $300 million from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand and modernize the nation's ferry systems. Projects in 14 states will advance clean technology and support local economies. Each year, 56 million trips are made on ferries in communities across the country, supporting the movement of people and goods, boosting local economies and helping to lower costs for families, and providing connections for Americans who, in some cases, have no other alternative travel options.  

Biden-Harris Administration Announces $893.3 Million Grant to Support New Light Rail in Los Angeles: The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today signed an $893.3 million grant agreement with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) to support the construction of a light rail line along busy Van Nuys Boulevard in the East San Fernando Valley. The rail line, which will run 6.7 miles, received funding from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Introduction to Transit Asset Management: NTI announced its first three offerings of the updated Introduction to Transit Asset Management course. Currently, those offerings are waitlisted, but more dates will be announced in 2025. The course provides an overview of key principles and best practices of transit asset management and its alignment with the regulations outlined in the FTA TAM rule (49 CFR 625). This course also helps participants understand business processes, resource allocation and resource utilization. Participants will learn how to make informed decisions about asset management based on quality information and well-defined objectives.   

Enhancing Your Transit Asset Management Program with Lifecycle Management: NTI announced an offering in December 2024 for the Enhancing your Transit Asset Management (TAM) Program with Lifecycle Management course. There are a small number of spaces currently available, more dates will be announced soon. This course aims to instruct participants on how to implement a strategic approach to managing transit assets within their agency. The course also aims to help transit agency staff mature their TAM programs by going beyond the minimum FTA TAM rule (49 CFR 625) requirements and incorporating lifecycle analysis to manage risk, minimize costs, and maximize the performance of assets. Course participants will learn effective practices for incorporating lifecycle management into their TAM programs and will apply their knowledge of TAM and lifecycle management in various activities to reinforce their learning. 

2024 FTA TAM Peer Exchange Summary Report: The FTA TAM Program hosted a peer exchange on February 28-29, 2024 in Washington, D.C. The exchange brought together transit professionals from around the country to discuss considerations for aligning TAM activities with other FTA related requirements, including NTD reporting, Public Transit Agency Safety Plans [PTASPs], and incorporating agency data into MPO and statewide plans). The summary report highlights the key takeaways in aligning TAM activities with other FTA related requirements as described by participants and summarizes perspectives shared during the facilitated discussion. 

2024 FTA Transit Asset Management Roundtable: On July 30-31, 2024, FTA’s TAM program hosted the 2024 TAM Roundtable in Chicago, IL. The TAM Roundtable brought together participants from across the country who are directly involved in the management of transit capital assets. The event featured two peer learning sessions that focused on how TAM has evolved at agencies and examples of continuous improvement efforts. It also included a presentation from FTA staff highlighting TAM program updates. The summary report highlights key aspects of the presentation and summarizes discussion held by participants surrounding methods for continuous improvement.  

FTA’s Transit Resilience Guidebook: FTA created the Transit Resilience Guidebook to assist transit agencies, local government officials, metropolitan planning organizations, and other entities to anticipate, adapt to, and recover from service disruptions caused by extreme weather events, natural disasters, and climate change impacts. The guidebook presents recommendations and examples of how to identify and address climate vulnerabilities and risks and build resilience into transit assets throughout the life-cycle process. 

Michigan: Detroit People Mover Closed Through November for Track Replacements 
The Detroit People Mover will pause operations for 11 weeks, to allow for track replacements and other routine maintenance upgrades. Over its 37 years in operation, the rail system has undergone regular maintenance based on federal best practices to maintain a “state of good repair.” The latest $4.985 million project — funded by federal and state grants — is scheduled to be completed in November.  

Florida: 20-Acre Electric Bus Operations Center Under Construction in South Florida
Miami-Dade County is working to build what could be the “most innovative and largest all-electric bus maintenance and transit operations center in the country,” says Eulois Cleckley, director and CEO of the county’s department of transportation and public works. The South Dade Transit Operations Center is a 20-acre site that will serve a new fleet of 100 60-foot articulated battery-electric buses. 

South Dakota: Rosebud Sioux Tribe Selected to Receive funding for New Electric Vehicles and Charging Stations The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota has been selected to receive a $7,879,394 Climate Pollution Reduction Grant as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda. The tribe will use a portion of the EPA funds to purchase electric buses for transit. “The Tribal and territory leaders selected today will fund innovative projects that improve air quality, deliver cleaner affordable electricity, and create economic and workforce opportunities that can be scaled up and replicated across Tribal lands and U.S. territories.”  

California Launches First-In-The-Nation Hydrogen Hub 
California launched the first hydrogen hub in the nation, marking the beginning of a federally funded initiative under the Biden-Harris administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The state will receive up to $1.2 billion to develop this hub, part of a broader $7 billion program to establish seven hydrogen hubs across the U.S. These hubs aim to produce hydrogen as a clean energy source for vehicles, manufacturing, and electricity generation.  

Washington: What to Know About Connecting to the New Lynnwood Light Rail Line
Washington’s latest light rail regional extension — 8 1/2 miles from Northgate to Lynnwood — began its day-to-day test. Before this service change, 30% of service hours have been dedicated to getting people to downtown Seattle and the University of Washington, said Ric Ilgenfritz, the agency’s CEO. With light rail, those bus routes are no longer necessary, allowing the agency to dedicate its resources to a more dense and more frequent network.