The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced Thursday it would be funding 20 projects in 12 states through $11 million in grant awards.
The FTA’s Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Planning grants will support comprehensive planning efforts to improve access to public transportation. The grants will help communities and organizations plan for projects that connect communities and improve access to transit and affordable housing.
“Transit-oriented development offers easier, more affordable access to jobs, health care, school, shopping, and other daily needs,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “We’re pleased to award this funding to help more communities develop around transit in a way that reduces pollution, increases economic opportunity, and contributes to affordable housing.”
In addition to supporting local efforts to increase access and encourage ridership through mixed-use and mixed-income development near public transportation projects, the pilot program’s grant awardees will also focus on combating climate change, advancing environmental justice, and promoting equitable delivery of benefits to underserved communities, the FTA said.
“Equitable transit-oriented development helps those at the local level respond to climate change and affordable housing challenges, particularly in underserved communities,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “Our goal is to create access for all Americans who ride transit by encouraging mixed-use, mixed-income development around new transit projects. I hope that communities will join with FTA to accelerate transit-oriented development by addressing zoning and planning changes that will increase mixed-income and affordable housing around transit hubs and stations.”
Selected projects include a $920,000 grant for the City of Phoenix Public Transit Department to plan for TOD at 11 stations along a five-mile streetcar line connecting activity centers in Mesa; $800,000 for the Chicago Transit Authority in Illinois for TOD at four proposed stations along 5.6-miles of the city’s Red Line; and $860,000 for the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments in South Carolina to plan for TOD on a proposed 21.5-mile Lowcountry Rapid Transit bus corridor.