Fact Sheet: Buses and Bus Facilities Program
BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW FACT SHEET
GRANTS FOR BUSES AND BUS FACILITIES
| Fiscal Year | 2022 (in millions) |
2023 (in millions) |
2024 (in millions) |
2025 (in millions) |
2026 (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities (Formula) |
$604 | $617 | $633 | $646 | $662 |
| Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities (Competitive) |
$376 | $384 | $394 | $402 | $412 |
| Low or No Emissions Grants (Competitive) |
$1,122 | $1,123 | $1,125 | $1,127 | $1,128 |
Program Purpose:
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, continues the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities program, which makes funding available to states, designated recipients, and local governmental entities that operate fixed route bus service to replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities including technological changes or innovations to modify low- or no- emission vehicles or facilities. Funding is provided through formula allocations and competitive grants. Two sub-programs provide competitive grants for buses and bus facility projects, including one that supports low and zero-emission vehicles.
Statutory References:
49 U.S.C. § 5339, IIJA § 30018, IIJA Division J
Eligible Recipients:
- Eligible recipients include designated recipients that operate fixed route bus service or that allocate funding to fixed route bus operators; and state or local governmental entities that operate fixed route bus service that are eligible to receive direct grants under the Urbanized Area Formula (Section 5307) and Rural Formula (Section 5311) programs.
- Subrecipients: An eligible recipient that receives a grant under the formula or competitive programs may allocate amounts from the grant to subrecipients that are public agencies or private nonprofit organizations engaged in public transportation, except that nonprofit organizations are not eligible subrecipients under the Low or No Emission Grants program.
Eligible Activities:
- Capital projects to replace, rehabilitate and purchase buses, vans, and related equipment, and to construct bus-related facilities, including technological changes or innovations to modify low or no emission vehicles or facilities.
What’s Changed?
- The Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities formula national distribution is increased to $4 million for each state and $1 million for each territory.
- Requires applicants for both the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities formula and competitive programs to use, to the extent possible, innovative procurement tools authorized under Section 3019 of the FAST Act. If fewer than five buses are purchased through a stand-alone procurement, the recipient must provide a written explanation to FTA of why the authorized procurement tools were not used.
- Allows an applicant to the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities competitive program who is also applying for the Low or No Emission Grants program to propose partnerships with other entities, which would then be deemed to satisfy the competitive procurement requirements under 49 U.S.C. § 5325.
- Requires that applicants submit a zero-emission fleet transition plan with their applications to both Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities and Low or No Emissions Grants competitive programs for projects related to zero-emission buses.
- Not less than 25% of Low or No Emissions Grants funding must be used for low-emission vehicles and related facilities (excluding zero emission vehicles and facilities).
- Requires that 5% of all Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities or Low or No Emissions competitive grants related to zero emission vehicles or related infrastructure be used for workforce development activities, unless the applicant certifies that less is needed to carry out their zero-emission fleet transition plan.