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RURAL OPPORTUNITIES TO

USE TRANSPORTATION FOR ECONOMIC SUCCESS

ROUTES

Alex Clegg – US DOT, Office of the Secretary

August 12, 2025

Contact Us!

Rural@dot.gov

www.transportation.gov/rural

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The Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success (ROUTES) Initiative aims to address disparities in rural transportation infrastructure and improve safety, mobility, and economic competitiveness nationwide.

Engage Rural Communities through a series of events to better understand the needs and priorities of rural communities and collect essential data from stakeholders representing different communities, groups, workers, and industries to identify solutions.

Harmonize DOT Programs to implement rural policy by establishing the ROUTES Council to lead and coordinate Departmental activities to implement the IIJA and better align new and existing funding, financing, and technical assistance programs with the needs of rural and Tribal communities.

Utilize a Whole-of-Government Approach by partnering with other rural-focused federal agencies to provide better Departmental resources to their customers and capitalize on synergies between federal funding programs.

The ROUTES Office seeks to:

About the ROUTES Initiative

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ROUTES Resources

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One Stop Shop for Rural Resources

Webinars

Benefit Cost Analyses for Rural Projects
TIFIA Rural Projects Initiative
Transit Resources
National Roadway Safety Strategy

Tools and Toolkits

Rural Eligibility Map
Point of Contact Map
Grant Applicant Toolkit

Funding Opportunities

Active & Upcoming NOFOs
Links to Past Awards

Modal Specific Landing Pages

Monthly Newsletters

One-Stop-Shop for Rural Resources

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ROUTES Resources

COMPETITIVE GRANTS DASHBOARD

90+ grant programs
Covers DOT and Non-DOT Agencies
Multiple search filters
Customized features for Rural and Tribal communities
Save results as Excel csv file

APPLYING FOR A GRANT FROM USDOT?

This toolkit provides user-friendly information and resources to support rural applicants’ understanding of USDOT competitive grant programs and the funding process.

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Rural Grant Applicant Toolkit

Major enhancements in this revision include:

Update to add new IIJA programs
Expansion to non-DOT federal grants, regional commissions
Upgrade the static directory of grants to a live, searchable database: DOT Competitive Grants Dashboard

All elements coordinated with and reviewed by OAs and the other federal agencies.

Recent Revisions/Additions

Rural Grant Applicant Toolkit

Developed to help rural applicants understand the competitive grant process and apply for opportunities
Identifies funding opportunities across modes and project lifecycle of interest to rural communities
Designed for all levels of grant applicant experience

Overview of the Toolkit

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DOT Competitive Grants Dashboard

HIGHLIGHTS

100+ grant programs
Covers DOT and Non-DOT Agencies

8 DOT Agencies
10+ Non-DOT Agencies

Multiple search filters

Keyword
Eligible Activities
Eligible Entities
Transportation Type
Match Waiver
Status (Open/Closed)

Customized features for Rural and Tribal communities
Save results as Excel csv file

DOT Discretionary Grants Dashboard

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Rural Grant Opportunities

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IIJA Discretionary Grant Status

IIJA provides funding for MOST programs at DOT over 5 years (FY22-26)
IIJA expires September 20, 2026

Congress may pass a new authorization bill, extend IIJA, or allow IIJA to lapse

Congress may provide additional funding to a program through the annual appropriations process
Multiple programs and/or fiscal years funding may be bundled into a single NOFO
Over $18 billion awarded to over 2,200 rural projects from IIJA discretionary programs

Including over $1.5 billion to 550 first-time grantees

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Program	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	FY27…
BUILD	$2.25B	$2.26B	$1.8B	$1.5B	~$1.5B	???
INFRA (MPDG)	$1.5B	$2.9B		$2.6B
Mega (MPDG)	$1.2B	$2B		$1.7B
Rural (MPDG)	$274M	$648M		$780M
Wildlife Crossings	$110M		$125M		~$80M
Safe Streets & Roads for All	$802M	$888M	$1.24B	~$1B	~$1B
Railroad Crossing Elimination	$573M	~$1.1B		~$600M	~$600M
SMART	$95M	$55M	$140M	~$100M	~$100M

Awarded
Under Review
Open
Upcoming

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BUILD Grants

Discretionary grant program that supports road, rail, transit, and port projects that fulfill national objectives

fka TIGER, BUILD, RAISE

50% rural and 50% urban
No local match required for rural projects
Since 2009, 691 projects in rural communities awarded $7.9 billion
87 rural projects awarded over $900 million in FY24

Flood Resilience and Multi-Modal Improvements at I-380 through UP Railroad Project (IA)

$25 million for resiliency and multimodal improvements in Cedar Rapids, IA

Statewide Truck Parking Project (WV)

$24.8 million to expand truck parking capacity along I-81, I-64, and I-79

Barton County Accessible Public Transportation (BCAPT) Planning Project (KS)

$239,138 to develop an accessible public transportation master plan for Baron, Rice, and Ellsworth counties in rural Kansas

FY26 NOFO expected to be released fall 2025

Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development

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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.
Focus is on comprehensive safety action planning and implementing those plans.
With FY22, FY23, and FY24, SS4A has provided $2.9 billion in Federal funding to over 1,600 communities in all 50 States and Puerto Rico.
FY25 funding has closed—look forward to FY26!

Key facts from SS4A awards over the past 3 years include the following:

Awards will improve roadway safety planning for around 75 percent of the nation’s population.
About half of communities awarded are new direct Federal funding recipients to USDOT.
Almost half of communities are in rural areas.
44 percent of communities receiving funding have populations under 50,000.
Over 97 percent of first-year award recipients have grant agreements in place and over 57 percent of second-year award recipients have grant agreements in place.

2024 Awards: Key Facts

Key facts about the 2024 SS4A award selections to date include the following:

710 SS4A awards totaling $1,241,490,821.

640 Planning and Demonstration Grant awards totaling $434,890,481.
70 Implementation Grant awards totaling $806,600,340.

The Implementation Grant awards provide significant safety benefits to all people who use our roadways:

The roadways and areas that received funding to implement projects had 612 lives lost and 14,004 injuries over the past 5 years.
95 percent of awards are going to provide significant safety benefits to pedestrians.
94 percent of awards are going to provide significant safety benefits to bicyclists.
Over half are going to provide significant safety benefits to people taking transit.
Over $200 million in funding benefits communities in rural and Tribal areas.

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Rural & Tribal Assistance (RTA) Program

Technical assistance program for eligible entities to hire financial, technical, and legal advisors
NOFO for FY22/23 - $3.4 million

$1.6 million for tribal governments

FY24 NOFO will have $54.2M available
Due to technical issues applicants experienced when attempting to apply for RTA Program funding, the application portal has been closed.
Any community that applied between March 18-March 21, 2025 must reapply to be considered.
The Bureau will announce the new date on the RTA Program webpage.

Expected announcement--late summer 2025

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DOT Technical Assistance

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DOT Navigator

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DOT Navigator

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Rural Safety

NHTSA and FHWA developed complementary rural versions of their Countermeasures guides
A Rural Subcommittee has been established under DOT Safety Council, coordinated by ROUTES staff (currently chaired by NHTSA)
Facilitated regional multimodal safety peer exchanges with FHWA, NHTSA, and other modes; three more planned for 2025

ROUTES has actively worked with NHTSA and FHWA to better coordinate rural safety activities and to advance the Safe System Approach in rural communities

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Rural Safety Funding Examples

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Rural Road Safety Funding at USDOT: Example Projects from 2022 compiles a selection of recently awarded projects from USDOT competitive and non-competitive grant programs that aim to address rural road safety.

This compilation is meant to support prospective rural applicants in understanding how USDOT grants have previously been used to improve rural road safety, and to showcase the underlying importance of safety across USDOT grant programs.

Includes examples from:

Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A)
Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE)
Infrastructure for Rebuilding American (INFRA)
Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART)
Bridge Investment Program (BIP)
National Scenic Byways Program (NSBP)
Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE)

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Subscribe to the ROUTES Newsletter --->

OR

Contact Us!

Rural@dot.gov

www.transportation.gov/rural