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We are pleased at Region 9 to bring you our first newsletter of 2025. In the new year, we are already moving full steam ahead, proudly supporting the projects selected for eight awards under FTA’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Tribal Transit Program, and the three projects that received FY 2025 RAISE grant awards. To help us do that, we brought on board five new employees over the December 2024/January 2025 period and promoted five Region 9 team members in the same timeframe.
Please share our news items with your colleagues and let us know how we might feature your projects and program initiatives in future newsletters.
Best wishes for the year ahead!
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According to a recent FTA report on transit trends, ridership in the United States continues to increase, growing by more than 17% nationwide from 2022 to 2023. The increase reflects more Americans choosing to take buses, subways, light rail, and other modes to travel to work, school, services, and weekend activities across the country and came as transit agencies better understood ridership needs following travel pattern changes during the pandemic. Learn more.
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The competitive grants through FTA’s Tribal Transit Program enable Tribes to buy transit vehicles, upgrade bus facilities, and expand or improve transit service. TInfrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes nearly $46 million in competitive funding over five years for the Tribal Transit Program, an increase of nearly 83%. Learn more. |
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We want to highlight the Tribes receiving grants, which will enable them to buy transit vehicles, upgrade bus facilities, and expand or improve bus service, helping residents get to jobs, school, and other opportunities. Region 9 grantees include: Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians (AZ), Navajo Nation (AZ), San Carlos Apache Tribal Council (AZ), Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria (CA), Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians (CA), Yurok Tribe (CA), Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe (NV), and Walker River Paiute Tribe (NV). Learn more.
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Region 9 Triennial Review Workshop #3 of 4: January 27-28, 2025 (San Francisco)
Region 9 Triennial Review Workshop #4 of 4: January 29-30, 2025 (San Francisco)
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This year, the updated CIG Reporting Instructions, templates, and standard cost category worksheets are being released in January, reflecting the updated CIG Policy Guidance. This week, FTA will post updated CIG reporting instructions, templates, and standard cost category worksheets on FTA’s website. These documents are updated annually by FTA and should be used by:
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Project sponsors seeking a rating for advancement into the next phase of the CIG process (Engineering or a construction grant agreement);
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Project sponsors seeking a rating at any time other than a formal approval step in the CIG process; and
- Project sponsors who wish to have their project evaluated and rated for consideration as a funding recommendation in the upcoming FY 2027 Annual Report to Congress. The due date for submittal of complete information to FTA for the FY 2027 Annual Report is Friday August 22, 2025.
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Recent Discretionary Grant Awards
On January 13th, Region 9 Administrator Ray Tellis traveled to Monterey, CA, to join Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) in announcing a $22.2 million Federal Transit Administration construction grant award to support the SURF! Busway and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
SURF! will connect residents and visitors to recreational areas, including the region’s famed beaches and Fort Ord Dunes State Park; Monterey Conference Center; new residential and commercial spaces; and medical and educational facilities along the line. It will also expand transit connectivity throughout Monterey County by linking two key existing transit hubs — Salinas Transit Center and Monterey Transit Plaza — and provide easier connections to California State University at Monterey Bay.
In addition, Region 9 recently awarded two discretionary grants authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act:
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The City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services was awarded $19,145,625 through a Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program grant to construct a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Kamehameha Highway.
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The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority was awarded $139,000,000 through a Neighborhood Access and Equity Program grant to fund various Removing Barriers and Creating Legacy projects located throughout Los Angeles County.
TIFIA Loan for San Francisco Bay Area Rail System Upgrade. On October 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced a $544.6 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan through the Build America Bureau to Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) for 775 new passenger railcars. The new railcars are part of a $2.2 billion expansion and upgrade of the entire BART system that operates 48 million passenger trips annually.
American Samoa Site Visit and Peer Exchange with the Yavapai-Apache Nation. In October 2024, Region 9 facilitated a peer exchange site visit in Arizona between the Yavapai-Apache Nation and the American Samoa. The American Samoa Department of Public Works is planning to start of a fixed-route transit service. They met with Yavapai-Apache Nation staff to learn from their transit system development experience. The Yavapai-Apache Nation staff shared how they worked with FTA to utilize federal funds to plan, start, and expand transit service, as well as the considerations needed for various types of transit riders, bus vehicles, vehicle service needs, and route planning.
First In-Person Tribal Transit Program (TTP) Technical Assessment Training Since 2019. The Region 9 FTA (TTP) Workshop was held in early November 2024 in Phoenix, AZ. Nearly 70 participants (26 attended in-person and others attended virtually) from 31 different tribal nations participated in the workshop. The workshop provided a comprehensive Tribal Transit Program (TTP) overview as well as technical assistance to improve Tribal Recipients’ understanding of program-specific and cross-cutting program requirements, as many of Tribal Recipients in Region 9 have been successful in competing for discretionary program funds beyond TTP.
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In January, USDOT announced $1.32 billion in grants through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program. Among the RAISE grants, which support multi-modal, multi-jurisdictional projects that are more difficult to fund through other grant programs, is support for 20 transit projects across the country.
Region 9 is excited that three grant winners from the region were awarded a combined $45 million. Grantees include the Sacramento Regional Transit District, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation's Build America Bureau recently announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program. Established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the program offers $27 million in technical assistance grants for rural and tribal transportation project planning and design. No local funding match is required, and up to $10 million is allocated for Tribal applicants. Applications will be accepted starting Tuesday, March 4 and are due by April 3. |
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Post-Award Grant Reporting. Quarterly Progress Reports for the FY25 Quarter 1, covering the period October 1 – December 31, 2024, are due by Thursday, January 30 at 3:59 PM Pacific Standard Time).
TAM program Assessment. As part of FTA’s continuing technical assistance for transit asset management, FTA has opened the application for FTA’s TAM program assessment. Interested agencies must apply between January 13–31, 2025. All transit agencies that receive FTA funding are eligible to apply except those that have recently participated in a TAM program assessment.
We strongly urge all grantees to upload their Authorizing Resolution and Opinion of Counsel before the March 5, 2025, deadline. On December 6, 2024, FTA’s Associate Administrator of Program Management issued a Dear Colleague letter highlighting that the following two documents must be uploaded to an agency’s profile to support verification of their legal capacity to carry out the project(s) included in federal assistance awards:
- Opinion of Counsel
- Authorizing Resolution
Beginning March 5, 2025, TrAMS will prevent any recipients that have not properly identified the Opinion of Counsel and Authorizing Resolution in their Recipient Document profile from transmitting or submitting new applications unless they have correctly labeled and/or uploaded their required legal documents.
Information on this enhancement and a short tutorial video are available on FTA’s TrAMS webpage.
Partial Year Apportionments
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Contact Information:
888 S. Figueroa Street Suite 440 Los Angeles, CA 90017
United States
Region 9 | FTA
Business Hours:
8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. PT, M-F.
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