Funding Opportunities

GBNRTC tracks multiple funding opportunities for transportation projects and information about current opportunities is available on this page. Many successful projects have leveraged multiple funding sources to fully fund improvements in our region.

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  • National Highway Performance Program (NHPP)

    The NHPP provides support for the condition and performance of the National Highway System; to provide support for the construction of new facilities on the National Highway System; to ensure that investments of Federal-aid funds in highway construction are directed to support progress toward the achievement of performance targets established in an asset management plan of a State for the National Highway System; and to provide support for activities to increase the resiliency of the National Highway System to mitigate the cost of damages from sea level rise, extreme weather events, flooding, wildfires, or other natural disasters.

    Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBG)

    STBG funding provides flexible funding that may be used by states and localities for projects to preserve and improve the conditions and performance on any federal-aid highway, bridge, and tunnel projects on any public road, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and transit capital projects. Funds from this program are intended to be directed to projects and programs for a broad variety of highway, road, bridge and transit work

    Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)

    HSIP focuses on highway safety improvements. It provides funds to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads, including non-State-owned public roads and roads on tribal lands. The HSIP requires a data-driven, strategic approach to improving highway safety on all public roads that focuses on performance.

    Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ)

    CMAQ provides a flexible funding source to state and local governments for transportation projects and programs to help meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act. Funding is available to reduce congestion and improve air quality for areas that do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone, carbon monoxide, or particulate matter (nonattainment areas), and for former nonattainment areas that are now in compliance (maintenance areas).

    Most CMAQ funding is awarded by NYSDOT (Albany) via a competitive application process that takes place roughly every 2 years. A small amount of CMAQ funding is allocated to NYSDOT Region 5, but is targeted outside of the GBNRTC planning area.

    Transportation Alternatives (TA)

    The Transportation Alternatives (TA) set-aside from the STBG Program provides funding for a variety of generally smaller-scale transportation projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities; construction of turnouts, overlooks, and viewing areas; community improvements such as historic preservation and vegetation management; environmental mitigation related to stormwater and habitat connectivity; recreational trails; safe routes to school projects; and vulnerable road user safety assessments.

    National Highway Freight Program (NHFP)

    NHFP was established by Congress in the 2015 Fast Act as a federal-aid highway formula program NHFP funds may be obligated for projects that contribute to the efficient movement of freight on the National Highway Freight Network (NHFN), and are consistent with federal planning requirements.

  • FTA §5307 - Urbanized Area Formula Grants

    Makes federal resources available to urbanized areas and to governors for transit capital and operating assistance in urbanized areas and for transportation-related planning. An urbanized area is an incorporated area with a population of 50,000 or more that is designated as such by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

    FTA §5310 - Enhanced Mobility Seniors/Individuals with Disabilities

    Provides formula funding to states for the purpose of assisting private nonprofit groups in meeting the transportation needs of older adults and people with disabilities when the transportation service provided is unavailable, insufficient, or inappropriate to meeting these needs.

    FTA §5337 - State of Good Repair Grants

    Provides capital assistance for maintenance, replacement, and rehabilitation projects of high-intensity fixed guideway and bus systems to help transit agencies maintain assets in a state of good repair. Additionally, SGR grants are eligible for developing and implementing Transit Asset Management plans.

    FTA §5339 – Bus and Bus Facilities Program

    Makes Federal resources available to States and designated recipients to replace, rehabilitate and purchase buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities including technological changes or innovations to modify low or no emission vehicles or facilities. Funding is provided through formula allocations and competitive grants. A sub-program provides competitive grants for bus and bus facility projects that support low and zero-emission vehicles.

  • CONSOLIDATED LOCAL STREET AND HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (CHIPS)

    CHIPS provides State funds to municipalities to support the construction and repair of highways, bridges, highway-railroad crossings, and other facilities that are not on the State highway system.

    The authorization for the CHIPS Program is contained in Section 10-c of the State Highway Law. Funds are apportioned to municipalities annually by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) pursuant to a formula specified in this section of the Law.

    Upon approval of the State Budget, NYSDOT determines each municipality's final CHIPS Capital apportionment for the new State fiscal year and notifies them of the available amount via the letter for the scheduled June payment and a posting to the Capital Apportionment Balances link on the CHIPS website.

    The enacted SFY 22-23 CHIPS budget can be found here.

    PAVE NY

    The PAVE-NY Program provides State funds to municipalities to support the rehabilitation and reconstruction of local highways and roads. PAVE-NY follows all the programmatic and reimbursement requirements of CHIPS, with one exception, eligible project activities are limited to Highway Resurfacing and Highway Reconstruction.

    The enacted SFY 22-23 PAVE-NY Budget can be found here.

    EXTREME WINTER RECOVERY (EWR)

    The EWR Program provides State funds to municipalities to support the construction and repair of highways, bridges, highway-railroad crossings, and other facilities that are not on the State highway system.

    The enacted SFY 22-23 EWR Budget can be found here.

    PAVE OUR POTHOLES (POP)

    A new state funding initiative enacted in the SFY 2022-23 Budget apportions $100 million annually to assist municipalities with the rehabilitation and reconstruction of local highways and roads.

    The enacted SFY 22-23 POP Budget can be found here.

    STATE TOURING ROUTE PROGRAM

    Funds are apportioned to cities, towns, and villages based on the total number of signed touring route miles for which such municipality has capital maintenance responsibility, as determined pursuant to the most recent local highway inventory conducted by the Highway Data Services Bureau of the NYS Department of Transportation (NYSDOT).

    The enacted SFY 22-23 State Touring Route Program Budget can be found here.

    BRIDGE NY

    On 12/15/21, Governor Hochul announced the award of $216.2 million ($16.3M in Western New York Region) in enhanced assistance for 88 local governments to rehabilitate and replace bridges and culverts in every region of the State. This funding, provided through the State's BRIDGE NY initiative, supports projects that reduce the risk of flooding, improve resiliency of structures, facilitate regional economic competitiveness and prioritize projects that benefit environmental justice communities.

    GBNRTC MPO Area ($12.649)

    • $1.159 million to the City of Buffalo (Erie County) for the replacement of the South Park Loop bridge over South Park Lake

    • $1.677 million to Erie County Department of Public Works for the replacement of the Sharp Street bridge over Spring Brook

    • $1.511 million to the Village of Akron (Erie County) for the replacement of the State Street bridge over Murder Creek

    • $1.0 million to the Village of Lancaster (Erie County) for the culvert lining replacement of the Downtown Village Block; Aurora Street to Central Avenue culvert carrying Plum Bottom Creek

    • $864,000 to the Town of Aurora (Erie County) for the replacement of the Church Street culvert carrying Tannery Brook

    • $799,000 to the Town of Aurora (Erie County) for the replacement of the East Filmore Avenue culvert carrying Tannery Brook

    • $1.0 million to the Town of Orchard Park (Erie County) for the replacement of the Dennis Road culvert carrying the East Tributary to South Branch of Smokes Creek

    • $941,000 to the Town of Evans (Erie County) for the replacement of the Derby Road culvert carrying Pike Creek

    • $653,000 to the Village of Depew (Erie County) for the replacement of the Marrano Drive culvert carrying the tributary to Scajaquada Creek

    • $828,000 to Niagara County for the replacement of the East Canal Road bridge

    • $1.311 million to the Town of Somerset (Niagara County) for the replacement of the Hartland Road bridge over Fish Creek

    • $930,000 to Niagara County for the replacement of the Hess Road culvert carrying the tributary to Keg Creek

    Additional information is available at: www.dot.ny.gov/bridgeny.

    PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ACTION PLAN (PSAP)

    The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) released its first-ever New York State Pedestrian Safety Action Plan (PSAP) in June of 2016. The five-year, multi-agency plan takes a three-pronged approach to improve pedestrian safety. It will be implemented cooperatively by NYSDOT focusing on engineering improvements, the State Department of Health producing public education and awareness campaigns, and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee coordinating increased law enforcement. Funding for the plan’s implementation is supported through the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding and State sources.

    The PSAP calls for a systemic approach to address widespread pedestrian safety issues and minimize crash potential by implementing low-cost countermeasures throughout the roadway network, both local and state jurisdictions. NYSDOT has begun pedestrian safety improvements on state-owned roadways at approximately 2,000 uncontrolled crosswalks (no signals or stop signs) and 2,400 signalized intersections. The PSAP also includes $40 million of federal HSIP funds to implement systemic pedestrian safety projects on local urban roads and streets. Projects funded pursuant to this call for pedestrian projects are eligible to receive up to 100% federal HSIP funding.

    In October of 2017, a call for local projects went out to municipalities within the 2010 US Census defined Urban Boundary. The following projects were selected and were added to the TIP:

    • PIN 5762.66 City of Buffalo PSAP $2.044M

    • PIN 5762.67 City of Niagara Falls PSAP $0.768M

    • PIN 5762.68 Town of Amherst PSAP $0.300M

    • PIN 5762.69 Town of Cheektowaga PSAP $ 0.303M

    • PIN 5762.70 Erie County PSAP $0.349M

    • PIN 5762.71 City of N. Tonawanda PSAP $0.375

    • PIN 5762.73 Town of Tonawanda PSAP $0.315

    Total to MPO Region: $4.458M

  • Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) Program

    The FAST Act established the ATCMTD program to make competitive grants for the development of model deployment sites for large scale installation and operation of advanced transportation technologies to improve safety, efficiency, system performance, and infrastructure return on investment. Each Fiscal Year, 2016 through FY 2020, $60 million is authorized and the Federal share for each project may be up to 50 percent of the cost of the project.

    Bridge Investment Program (BIP)

    The BIP focuses on the repair, rehabilitation, or replacement of existing bridges across the country to reduce the overall number of those bridges either in poor condition, or in fair condition at risk of declining into poor condition. It also expands applicant eligibilities to create opportunity for all levels of government to be direct recipients of program funds.

    Carbon Reduction Program

    A wide variety of project types are eligible for the carbon reduction funds, including off-road trails for pedestrians and bicyclists, bus rapid transit lines, intelligent transportation systems and infrastructure for charging electric vehicles or for fueling vehicles powered by hydrogen, natural gas or propane.

    Consolidated Rail Infrastructure & Safety Improvements Grant Program (CHRISI)

    This program funds projects that improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of intercity passenger and freight rail.

    Multimodal Projects Discretionary Grant (MPDG)

    This new program combines three major discretionary grant programs into one grant opportunity to reduce the burden for state and local applicants and increases the pipeline of “shovel-worthy” projects that are now possible because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These investments will create good-paying jobs, grow the economy, reduce emissions, improve safety, make our transportation more sustainable and resilient, and expand transportation options in rural America and other underserved communities. This funding will help enable more communities to build vital infrastructure projects that also strengthen supply chains and reduce costs for American families.

    • The National Infrastructure Project Assistance (MEGA) - Funds major projects that are too large or complex for traditional funding programs. The program will provide grants on a competitive basis to support multijurisdictional or regional projects of significance that may also cut across multiple modes of transportation.

    • The Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) - These grants advance the Administration’s priorities of rebuilding America’s infrastructure and creating jobs by funding highway, multimodal freight and rail projects that position America to win the 21st century. Projects will improve safety, generate economic benefits, reduce congestion, enhance resiliency, and hold the greatest promise to eliminate supply chain bottlenecks and improve critical freight movements.

    • The Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program (RURAL) - Support projects to improve and expand the surface transportation infrastructure in rural areas to increase connectivity, improve the safety and reliability of the movement of people and freight, and generate regional economic growth and improve quality of life.

    National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program

    Program to build out a national electric vehicle charging network, an important step towards making electric vehicle (EV) charging accessible to all Americans.

    Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE)

    This popular program helps communities around the country carry out projects with significant local or regional impact. RAISE discretionary grants were originally created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as TIGER grants, can be used for a wide variety of projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. This program was previously referred to as BUILD.

    Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program

    Supports planning, capital construction, and technical assistance to equitably and safely restore community connectivity through the removal, retrofit, mitigation, or replacement of eligible transportation infrastructure facilities that create barriers to mobility, access, or economic development.

    Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A)

    The SS4A program funds regional, local, and Tribal initiatives through grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. The program supports the National Roadway Safety Strategy and the USDOT’s goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on our nation’s roadways.

    Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART)

    Provides supplemental funding grants to rural, midsized, and large communities to conduct demonstration projects focused on advanced smart city or community technologies and systems in a variety of communities to improve transportation efficiency and safety.

    Additional information on these programs can be found here.