On March 3, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the new Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone (HOPE) program. This program will make available $8.5 million to improve transit services or facilities in areas of persistent poverty through funding for planning, engineering, technical studies, or financial plans. An area of persistent poverty is a county with 20% or more of the population living in poverty over the 30 years preceding the date of enactment of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, or December 20, 2019, as measured by the 1990 and 2000 decennial census and the most recent Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. Applicants for the HOPE program must be eligible recipients or sub-recipients under section 5307, 5310, or 5311 of title 49, United States Code. Click here to learn more and access the NOFO. The application deadline has been extended to June 3, 2020.
