The US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the opportunity (FTA-2019-001-TPM-LOWNO) for eligible applicants to apply for up to $85 million in competitive grant funds through FTA’s Low- or No-Emission (Low-No) Bus Program.

The main purpose of the Low-No Program is to support the transition of the nation’s transit fleet to the lowest polluting and most energy efficient transit vehicles.

The Low-No Program provides funding to State and local governmental authorities for the purchase or lease of zero-emission and low-emission transit buses, including acquisition, construction, and leasing of required supporting facilities.

FTA will award the grants to eligible recipients, which include public transit agencies, state transportation departments, and tribes on a competitive basis. Projects may include costs incidental to the acquisition of buses or to the construction of facilities, such as the costs of related workforce development and training activities, and project administration expenses.

Projects will be evaluated by criteria defined in federal law and in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), including the applicant’s demonstration of need, the project’s benefits, project implementation strategy, and capacity for implementing the project.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 appropriated $85 million in FY 2019 for grants under the Low-No Program, authorized by 49 U.S.C. 5339(c). In FY 2018, the program received applications for 151 projects requesting a total of $558 million. Fifty-two projects were eventually funded at a total of $84.45 million.