Action
Notice of availability of fiscal year 2004 funds; solicitation of grant applications.
Summary
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of funds in fiscal year (FY) 2004 for the Over-the-Road Bus (OTRB) Accessibility Program, authorized by Section 3038 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). The OTRB Accessibility Program makes funds available to private operators of over-the-road buses to finance the incremental capital and training costs of complying with DOT's over- the-road bus accessibility final rule, published in a Federal Register notice on September 24, 1998. The OTRB Accessibility Program calls for national solicitation of applications, with grantees to be selected on a competitive basis. Federal transit funds are available to intercity fixed-route providers and other OTRB providers at up to 90 percent of the project cost. FTA expects that in FY 2004, $5.25 million will be appropriated for intercity fixed-route service providers and $1.7 million will be appropriated for other over-the-road bus service providers. As of the date of this announcement, TEA-21 has been extended through February 29, 2004, and the FY 2004 funding for FTA programs has not yet been appropriated by Congress. This announcement describes application procedures for the OTRB Accessibility Program and the procedures FTA will use to determine which projects it will fund when the status of FY 2004 funding is resolved. This announcement is available on the Internet on the FTA website at: http://www.fta.dot.gov. FTA will announce final selections on the website and in the Federal Register. A synopsis of this announcement will be posted in the FIND module of the government-wide electronic grants website at http://www.grants.gov.