The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau said it had released nearly $46 million in grant money to help communities find alternative infrastructure financing.
In the bureau’s Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Innovative Finance and Asset Concession Grant Program $45.98 million will be made available to help public entities facilitate and evaluate public-private partnerships as well as to explore innovative financing and alternative delivery opportunities for Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA)-eligible projects. The grants of up to $2 million will empower communities to generate additional value from existing assets and delivery infrastructure faster and at lower cost using innovative solutions and financing, officials said. The grants will not require local matching funds for the first $1 million.
Two types of grants are available – technical assistance and expert services. With technical assistance grants, the recipients will be able to build organizational capacity and identify underused assets by hiring staff and consultants. With expert services grants, recipients will be able to procure professionals to help develop specific assets. Applicants must choose one grant or the other to apply for, and eligible applicants include state, Tribal, or local governments; special purpose public authorities; or agencies chartered by a state, Tribal or local government.
“This novel program is promoting efficient and effective use of publicly owned assets, by enabling communities to find answers to this basic question: do they have underutilized assets that can be leveraged to address their infrastructure needs?” Bureau Executive Director Morteza Farajian, Ph.D., said. “The Bureau is constructing a bridge between our state, tribal, and local partners who have valuable underutilized assets and private partners who have expertise and financial capital to generate additional value from those assets to address community needs faster and at lower cost.”
Applications are due on Oct. 1, 2025 and the bureau will host a free informational webinar about the program from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on August 27, 2025.