The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced it had awarded 36 Tribal governments over $10 million in grants Wednesday.
The grants will support transit services for American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages in rural areas.
“Today’s announcement is an important step toward ensuring Tribal Nations have the transportation infrastructure they need and deserve,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “And thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’ll soon be able to provide Tribes additional funding to meet the unique transit needs of their residents.”
The FTA’s Tribal Transit Program helps fund the transportation needs of Tribal citizens, including senior citizens, people with disabilities, and young people in rural areas. As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, an additional $229 million will be available over the next five years to fund Public Transportation on Indian Reservations and in competitive grants, increasing the amount Tribal communities receive to provide transit options.
“Resources to tribal transit programs in Indian Country are critical in addressing connectivity for Tribal residents to go to work, school, shopping, medical appointments or other daily necessities,” said Arlando Teller, deputy assistant secretary for Tribal Affairs.
Included in the funding is $882,882 for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in north-central Minnesota to initiate new transit services on the reservation, connecting the village of Onigum with the community of Bena; $432,981 for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation in northeast South Dakota for video cameras on its existing fleet of vehicles and to ensure continued transit services; and, $612,000 for the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, in Yolo County, Cal., to purchase new battery-electric vehicles that will replace older vehicles that have exceeded their useful lifespan.
“These grants strengthen Tribal transportation by making investments that maintain transit services, enhance economic development, and increase safety, sustainability, resiliency, and accessibility, which are particularly important as we emerge from the public health emergency,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez.