SMART Grants Program
Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART)
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) established the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) discretionary grant program with $100 million appropriated annually for fiscal years (FY) 2022-2026.
The SMART program was established to provide grants to eligible public sector agencies to conduct demonstration projects focused on advanced smart community technologies and systems in order to improve transportation efficiency and safety.
SMART is a two-stage program. Stage 1 (up to $2,000,000 dollars and 18 months) grants are open for any eligible entity to apply. Recipients of Stage 1 grants will be eligible to expand their projects through Stage 2 grants (up to $15,000,000 and 36 months). Applicants must have received a Stage 1 grant to apply to Stage 2.
Congress passed H.R.7148 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, which reallocates $204,912,000 in unobligated balances from the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program. No new notices of funding will be issued. Existing SMART grant agreements, including 122 Stage 1 and seven Stage 2 grants, will continue to be honored.
FY24 Awards
On December 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced $54 million in grant awards for the 34 projects across 21 states in the third and final round of the SMART Stage 1 Grants. On May 6, 2025, Secretary Duffy announced the final approval of 21 Stage 1 grants, and subsequently eight more, and five projects are still under Departmental review.
The Department also announced $85 million across eight Stage 2 awards, the first round of SMART Stage 2 Implementation Grants. Visit the FY24 grant pages to learn more, or click on projects on the interactive map of all SMART projects awarded to date. On May 6, 2025, Secretary Duffy announced the final approval of six Stage 2 grants, and subsequently one more, and one project was canceled.
SMART Projects to Date: 122 Stage 1 Projects, Seven Stage 2 Projects
U.S. DOT Held Fourth Annual SMART Grantee Summit
Leadership Panel, Part 1: David Fink, Administrator, FRA; Jonathan Morrison, Administrator, NHTSA; Seval Oz, Assistant Secretary for Research & Technology; and Derek Barrs, Administrator FMCSA
Leadership Panel, Part 2: Seval Oz, Assistant Secretary for Research & Technology; Paul Fontaine, Assistant Administrator, FAA: Jay Payne, Deputy Administrator, FHWA: and Connor Torossian Assistant Administrator, FTA
On July 15, 2026, the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R) held its fourth Annual SMART Grantee Summit for the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants program.
The Summit was held at the U.S. DOT Headquarters in Washington, D.C. with over 175 participants in attendance including grantees from 55 SMART grant projects from 32 states as well as Puerto Rico, industry stakeholders, and DOT staff. Seval Oz, Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, moderated a two-part panel discussion with DOT Modal leadership.
Grant recipients interacted with U.S. DOT leadership and transportation industry stakeholders and participated in various breakout sessions with Subject Matter Experts to share lessons learned, collaborate with peers, and learn from many different U.S. DOT modes. This marked the first year of SMART’s Poster Session that creatively and informatively represented 26 Stage 1 projects!
View some the individual fiscal year awarded projects pages to learn more.
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