Rural and Tribal Award Announcement

$54.2 Million Awarded to Rural and Tribal Transportation Projects Across the Country
 

The Rural and Tribal Assistance (RTA) Pilot Program awarded $54.2 Million to 49 rural and tribal projects—31 rural and 18 tribal—across 25 states on April 6, 2026. This funding offers the vital support communities need to turn their visions into reality, get shovels in the ground sooner, and cross the finish line. Read the press release and learn about the selected Fiscal Years (FY) 24-25 projects. 

Page Contents

Program Overview

FY24-25 Award Announcement

Resources and Additional Information

Program Overview

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) expanded the Build America Bureau’s capacity to help more communities advance infrastructure projects that enhance the safety, efficiency, and quality of the country’s transportation system. This included the creation of multiple new programs to be administered by the Bureau that provide technical assistance to help communities explore innovative financing and project delivery methods for their projects.  

The IIJA created the Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program, which provides grants to support legal, technical, and financial advisors to help advance infrastructure projects. 

Eligible project sponsors may receive grant funds to select advisors to assist with pre-development-phase activities, including:  

• feasibility studies 
• project planning 
• revenue forecasting and funding and financing options analyses  
• preliminary engineering and design work 
• environmental review 
• economic assessments and cost-benefit analyses 
• public benefits studies 
• statutory and regulatory framework analyses 
• value-for-money (VFM) studies   
• evaluations of costs to sustain the project 
• evaluation opportunities for private financing and project bundling   

For more information, please email RuralandTribalTA@dot.gov. 

FY24-25 Award Announcement

On April 6, 2026, the Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program announced 49 awards—31 rural and 18 tribal—for this round’s $54.2 million Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). This program supports recipients in hiring staff or procuring financial, technical, and legal assistance for pre-construction phase activities. This funding was awarded on a first-come, first-served basis and included a $20 million tribal set-aside. The program received 799 applications from 49 states and three US territories, totaling more than $789 million in requested funding.

• View the FY 24-25 RTA Awardees list
   

Eligibility  

Eligible Applicants: 

• Local government or State government on behalf of a project— 
  • Not in a Census Bureau 2020-designated urban area. --OR--  
  • In a Census Bureau 2020-designated urban area with a population of 150,000 or less. 
• Federally recognized Indian Tribes 
• Department of Hawaiian Home Lands 

Eligible Projects: 

Projects that are reasonably expected to be eligible for one or more of the following programs: 

• Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Program
• Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) Program 
• Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects Program (INFRA)
• National Infrastructure Project Assistance Program (Mega)
• Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Program
• National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration Program 

Resources and Additional Information

• Interested applicants can use one of the following mapping tools to verify that the project’s location is in an area that meets the “rural” definition:
  • Rural Funding Eligibility Tool
    • Instructions on how to use this map to check for rural eligibility for the RTA Program can be found here.
• U.S. Census mapping tool TIGERweb
  • Instructions on how to use this map and check the urban area population, if applicable, can be found here.
• FY 24-25 Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program Information:
  • View the FY 24-25 RTA  Awardees list 
  • Copy of Online Application Questions
  • Instructions for Application Questions  
  • View the recorded webinar (passcode: 2N3w3^Yt) and slides
  • Find the NOFO on Grants.gov.
• FY 22-23 Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program Information: 
  • View the FY 22-23 Applications Dashboard
  • View FY 22-23 Project Recipients
  • Check out the Rural and Tribal Community Resources page for other relevant programs.