The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has announced a Fiscal Year 2025 competitive funding opportunity under the Buses and Bus Facilities Program. The goal of this program is to support capital projects aimed at improving public bus transit systems across the United States. This includes the replacement, rehabilitation, purchase, or lease of buses and related equipment, as well as the construction, rehabilitation, or lease of bus-related facilities. A total of approximately $398 million is available for this funding round.
This grant opportunity is discretionary and governed by several key federal statutes and executive orders, including environmental, cultural, and civil rights protections. The assistance is offered in the form of grants under the Federal Assistance Listing 20.526. Matching funds are required, although the specific match ratios may vary depending on the project and applicant characteristics.
Eligible applicants include state and local government entities that operate fixed-route bus services, federally recognized Indian tribes, and designated recipients that allocate funds to fixed-route bus operators. Private nonprofit organizations engaged in public transportation are eligible as subrecipients. Importantly, applications for projects in non-urbanized areas must be submitted by a state government, unless the applicant is a federally recognized Indian tribe.
Applicants are required to submit complete proposals electronically through Grants.gov by July 14, 2025, no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Hard copy submissions via mail or fax will not be accepted. The funding opportunity ID for this program is FTA-2025-007-TPM-BUS. The program does not operate on a rolling basis and there is no indication that it is a recurring opportunity.
Proposals must be comprehensive and adhere strictly to the guidelines outlined in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), which is available on both the Grants.gov platform and the FTA website. The NOFO includes application requirements, evaluation criteria, and detailed instructions. The FTA’s Office of Program Management, particularly Kirsten Wiard-Bauer, is the point of contact for any technical difficulties in accessing the application.
The FTA will review all proposals using established evaluation criteria, which include the technical merit of the project, alignment with the program’s goals, and the applicant’s financial and managerial capacity. Projects that emphasize low or no emissions and promote sustainable transit solutions are likely to receive favorable consideration.
