2/19/2016

Dear Colleague:

I’m pleased to inform you that this week we launched the Transit Award Management System (TrAMS) to award and manage federal grants. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) awards more than $11 billion a year in grants. The TrAMS, which represents the next generation of grants management, will provide greater efficiency and improved transparency and accountability than our former grants management platform, Transportation Electronic Award Management System, created in 1998.

Just before we launched TrAMS, FTA published its Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Apportionments Notice, providing funding for recipients of FTA programs as authorized by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The FY 2016 apportionments release highlights the status of FAST Act implementation activities, key programmatic and policy issues, grants management and interim guidance as well as a full year of FY 2016 discretionary and formula funding. Visit our apportionments webpage for tables displaying Federal funding available to states and urbanized areas as well as program requirements, periods of availability, prior-year unobligated balances, and other related program information and highlights.

FY 2016 funding is available in TrAMS. The new grants management system allows transit agencies to more easily apply for and report on Federal funding and provides a one-stop shop for FTA to manage and monitor how transit funding is used to provide public transportation nationwide. Among its benefits, TrAMS:

• allows FTA to award funding from multiple programs in a single grant, reducing reporting requirements and administrative costs for recipients
• consolidates information, such as the number of funded projects, descriptions, benefits, and payment history
• improves accountability by changing how we obligate funds, allowing FTA to obtain more detailed information about how stakeholders use FTA funds to improve transportation
• allows agencies to file simple applications or more complex applications to address complex needs

To become proficient in using TrAMS, your grants management staff can take advantage of many FTA training opportunities. Look for our TrAMS training series, user guide, and toll-free HELP number on the TrAMS webpage.

We appreciate the input we received from stakeholders during the TrAMS development. The platform includes many features that address needs identified by you and your colleagues. We’re confident you will find navigating TrAMS to be a user-friendly and efficient experience.

Sincerely yours,

Therese W. McMillan
Acting Administrator
Federal Transit Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590