News

Mass Transit Grants in the CARES Act

Posted April 2020

The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27th , includes $25 billion for public transit formula operating and capital grants to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will distribute the transit funds proportionally based on the ratio of FY 2020 funding of four specific programs: urbanized area formula grants; rural area formula grants; state-of-good-repair (SOGR) formula grants; and growing/high-density states formula grants.

The CARES Act provides almost three times (280 percent) the FY 2020 appropriations for each of these programs. See APTA’s breakdown of the funds below:

CARES Act funds are only eligible for grants to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. Grants are to be “available for the operating expenses of transit agencies related to the response to a coronavirus public health emergency…beginning on January 20, 2020, reimbursement for operating costs to maintain service and lost revenue due to the coronavirus public health emergency, including the purchase of personal protective equipment, and paying the administrative leave of operations personnel due to reductions in service…” The grants carry a 100 percent federal cost share.

The bill requires the FTA to apportion these funds (using FY 2020 apportionment formulas) within seven days of the date of enactment. While the grants could be used for capital programs or operating costs, the Eno Center for Transportation expects that almost all of the $25 billion will go towards operating costs to make up for lost farebox and dedicated tax revenues.

Eno Center for Transportation Article: https://www.enotrans.org/article/final-version-of-2-trillion-covid-response-bill-has-114-billion-for-transportation/

APTA Article: https://www.apta.com/advocacy-legislation-policy/legislative-updates-alerts/updates/cares-act-provides-25-billion-for-public-transit/