FTA’s Emergency Relief Program provides assistance to public transit operators in the aftermath of a declared emergency or major disaster. The program helps states and public transportation systems:
- pay for repairing and replacing equipment and facilities that have suffered serious damage as a result of an emergency;
- cover the costs of evacuation, rescue operations, and temporary public transportation service and;
- reestablish, expand, or relocate service before, during or after an emergency.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, signed into law in December 2022, provided the funding for the ER Program’s support for 2017 and 2020-22 declared disasters. This announcement reflects a first round of grants through the ER Program. FTA will continue to accept applications from affected transit agencies and communities for another 90 days.