Funding BRT in the U.S.

Other Potential Federal Funding Sources

Other pages in this section: New Starts Small Starts FY'08 Funding Updates Other Federal Funding Options State and Local Funding Private Funding

Bus & Bus Facilities Program This Sect. 5309 program, often called the bus capital program, provides a large number of small grants for bus-related capital projects.  BRT projects can use these funds for: -- bus procurements -- bus maintenance facilities -- passenger amenities like shelters and signage -- transportation centers or bus malls -- intermodal terminals -- park and ride facilities. Bus capital funds are attractive because they only require a 20% local match.  Transit agencies and other public entities are eligible to receive these funds, which are secured through Congressional earmarks. Grants are small, typically ranging from about $50,000  to $15 million.  While this is not usually enough to fund an entire BRT project, the program has proven to be a good source of supplemental support for BRT.  Indeed, some low cost rapid bus projects have met up to half their budget needs with bus capital funds. For example, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority supplied about one-third of the MAX project budget from $8.3 million in bus capital earmarks.  Half of the Las Vegas MAX budget came from $9.65 million in bus capital funds.  The Los Angeles Orange Line and Hartford New Britain busway also secured these funds for vehicle and station costs. For details on this program, see the FTA website.

Funding BRT Planning There are are a few federal sources to help fund early system planning.  Cities may apply for grants under: -- Sect. 5303 Metropolitan Planning program -- Sect. 5307 Urbanized Area Formula grants -- Flexible funding -- Sect. 5339 Alternatives Analysis program

Urbanized Area Formula Grants This program provides transit capital and operating funds for urbanized areas over 50,000 in population.  State and local governments as well as transit agencies are eligible for formula grants, which are appropriated annually by Congress.  Like the bus capital program, formula funds grants are fairly small, and only require a 20% local match. Ubanized areas over 200,000 in population can only use formula funds for capital investments  Smaller cities may also allocate them for transit operating expenses.  Cities building BRT can  use the funds for bus capital investments such as vehicle purchases and maintenance facilities.  They may also use them for system planning, engineering and design -- one of the few federal sources that supports planning expenses (see sidebar for more on potential planning funds). Small cities that can use the grants for operating costs may be unlikely to divert them to capital projects.  However, several larger transit ystems used formula grants for BRT capital costs, including the Hartford-New Britain Busway,  Eugene EmX, Las Vegas MAX and Boston Silver Line II Waterfront service For more on this program, visit FTA's website. Highway Funds or Flexible Funds Cities are allowed to spend federal highway dollars on transit capital projects through programs like Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ) and the Surface Transportation Program (STP). CMAQ: States apply for CMAQ grants for a wide range of projects that help them meet the federal Clean Air Act requirements, including some transit capital projects.  CMAQ funds are useful because they will fund all project phases, not just capital expenses, and because they only require an 11.47 percent local share.  Disadvantages are the small size of grants and heavy competition for limited funds from multiple state air quality priorities. Transit agencies must partner with the state to apply for CMAQ grants.  This can be a disadvantage with this funding source.  However, several BRT and rapid bus projects have used CMAQ grants successfully -- most notably Metro Rapid, which has been funded almost entirely through CMAQ.  The Hartford-New Britain Busway and Las Vegas MAX also secured CMAQ grants.  Since BRT and rapid bus projects frequently require partnerships between the transit operator and state or local agencies in order to operate vehicles on city streets and implement traffic signal preemption, using CMAQ funds may not impose a special burden for agencies building BRT. STP:  These grants can be used for virtually any transportation capital project, including public transit, corridor parking facilities, and bus terminals and bus facilities.  Cities can also use them for transit project planning.  The Hartford-New Britain busway budget includes STP funding. For more on flexible funding, visit FTA's website.

To build the Orange Line, the Los Angeles Metro supplemented its state funding with a federal bus capital grant for the vehicles.  The Orange Line averages over 22,000 riders per day, meeting its 20 year ridership goal just five months after opening.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is planning a 9.4-mile, two-lane dedicated busway along Highwway I-84.  The corridor will have up to 12 stations, including some fully enclosed buildings.  The  DOT has used a range of federal funding sources to supplement its New Starts application, including bus capital earmarks, flexible funds, formula grants and fixed guideway funding.

Fixed Guideway Modernization This program is used almost exclusively for rail system upgrades.  However, the Hartford-New Britain busway, which will operate on an abandoned railroad right-of-way and on shared right-of-way with Amtrak, was able to secure $13 million from this program.  Other BRT projects with similar shared right-of-way may want to consider this funding mechanism. For more on this program, see FTA's website. Next:  State and Local Funding/Transit Agency Funding