The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of funds in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 for the Public Transportation on Indian Reservation program (TTP), a program authorized by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), Section 3013(c). TTP funds are to be allocated for grants to federally recognized Indian Tribes for any purpose eligible under the Section 5311 program. TTP funds are meant to complement any 5311 funds that applicants may be receiving. These funds will be competitively allocated to support planning, capital, and operating assistance for Tribal public transit services. A total of $15,074,963 million is currently available for discretionary allocation, which includes FY 2010 appropriations and lapsed funds.Grants can be awarded to recipients located in rural and small urban areas with populations under 50,000 not identified as an urbanized area by the Bureau of the Census and may be used for public transportation capital projects, operating costs of equipment and facilities for use in public transportation, planning, and the acquisition of public transportation services, including service agreements with private providers of public transportation services. Under DOT Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) regulations, public fixed route operators are required to provide ADA complementary paratransit service to individuals who are unable to use fixed route due to their disability or a fixed route being inaccessible. Coordinated human service transportation that primarily serves elderly persons and persons with disabilities, but that is not restricted from carrying other members of the public, is considered available to the general public if it is marketed as public transportation. Examples of eligible TTP projects are start-up service, enhancement or expansions of existing services, purchase of transit capital items including vehicles, and planning or operational planning grants. Applicants proposing projects for funding under TTP may apply through GRANTS.GOV or via e-mail at
[email protected]. FTA will announce grant selections in the Federal Register when the competitive selection process is complete.For complete opportunity description and application instruction see attached Federal Register Notice or the Announcement URL.