The Biden administration Thursday sent out nearly $10 billion in public transit funding to fulfill the first five months of fiscal 2024 appropriations despite the lack of a full-year spending plan from Congress.
The partial-year funding — from last October through March 1 — keeps spending flat at fiscal 2023 levels while the government operates under a continuing resolution. The money is designed to allow transit agencies to move forward with applications for 2024 capital funds, according to the Federal Transit Administration. About half of the money is given out via the Urbanized Area Formula Funding program, which mostly goes to areas with populations over 200,000.
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“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides significant increases to transit funds across the country,” said FTA Acting Administrator Veronica Vanterpool in a statement. “Communities depend on this funding to start new projects, fix old infrastructure, and bring more fast, safe, convenient service.”
Vanterpool took over as acting administrator from having been deputy administrator on Feb. 24 after Nuria Fernandez retired. Vanterpool joined the FTA in 2021 from the Delaware Transit Corporation. Before that she was director of the New York City based Tri-State Transportation Campaign and a board member of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
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“The tables allow transit agencies and grant recipients to view the amounts for programs set by statutorily defined formulas so they can better plan and manage over the long term for new projects and address their repair backlogs,” the agency said.
Urban areas will see $4.8 billion of the formula grants, with the largest tranche, $1.24 billion, going to the New York-New Jersey Newark area. The Chicago area will see $341 million; the Los Angeles, Long Beach and Anaheim region got $248 million; and the Boston area $203 million.