Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) - Announcement
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the third round of the Department’s popular Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Program, with the FY24 NOFO containing FY24-26 funding of more than $600 million available for both capital construction and community planning grants. This continues the stream of investment from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law flowing to communities across the country as part of our Infrastructure Decade.
This year, communities that are interested in the program but not yet ready to submit an application for funding can request free technical assistance through DOT’s Reconnecting Communities Institute to explore project feasibility in their communities.
Last year, the Reconnecting Communities Pilot was combined with the Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) program, joining two initiatives created through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help revitalize and reconnect communities cut off from opportunity by past transportation infrastructure decisions, with a combined $3.3 billion in funding that supported projects in 130 communities. To date, 176 communities have benefited from RCP and NAE funding.
“Through President Biden’s infrastructure law, we’re addressing infrastructure choices of the past and making sure that our transportation investments serve to connect, rather than divide, people and communities across the country,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This funding will support projects that bring people closer to jobs, schools, housing, places of worship, and one another.”
Even with last year’s one-time infusion of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the program was oversubscribed and highly competitive.
The RCP program is covered under President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which sets the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Read more about the Department’s commitment to Justice40 here.
The Department remains committed to helping disadvantaged communities access the historic levels of federal funding made available under the Bipartisan Infrastructure law, including through technical assistance programs like Thriving Communities and the Reconnecting Communities Institute.