Thriving Communities Program

FY 2022 Thriving Communities Program Recipients Announced

On April 7, 2023, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $21.15 million in cooperative agreements with four Capacity Builders through the first round of funding for the Thriving Communities Program. The awarded Capacity Builders will support a total of 64 communities in 42 states, including 6 Tribal Nations, and Puerto Rico.

This planning, technical assistance, and capacity building support will enable disadvantaged and under-resourced communities to advance a pipeline of transformative infrastructure projects that will increase mobility, reduce pollution, and expand affordable transportation options, connecting communities to the essential opportunities and resources that will help them thrive.

Learn more about the selected Capacity Builders and communities and the FY 2022 runners up. 

FY 2023 Thriving Communities Program Coming Soon!

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Thriving Communities Program opportunity for Capacity Builders and communities is expected to open in summer 2023. USDOT will update this webpage with more information when it becomes available. Subscribe to email updates to receive updates about upcoming Thriving Communities Program opportunities and other technical assistance and funding opportunities from across USDOT.

Through the Thriving Communities Program, USDOT selects and funds Capacity Builder teams to provide deep-dive technical assistance, planning, and capacity building support to under-resourced and disadvantaged communities across the U.S. to help ensure these communities have the technical tools and organizational capacity to comprehensively plan for and deliver quality infrastructure projects and community development projects that enable their communities and neighborhoods to thrive. USDOT selects Capacity Builders and communities through separate but coordinated application and review processes.

What Can I Do to Prepare?

If the Thriving Communities Program sounds like a good fit for your organization or community, here are some suggestions to prepare for the FY 2023 program:

• If you are a community that needs technical assistance, planning, and capacity building support:
  • Begin identifying community partnerships and discussing your community’s specific needs and vision for transformative transportation and community revitalization projects.
  • Review the list of selected FY 2022 communities to see the types of issues and places that USDOT is supporting and check out the selected Capacity Builders to see what types of technical assistance, planning, and capacity building support is available.
• If you are a technical assistance provider:
  • Begin forming partnership teams with other technical assistance providers. This list of potential Capacity Builders includes information from potentially interested organizations from the FY 2022 program and may be a good place to start.
  • Review the list of communities who submitted Letters of Interest for the FY 2022 program to better understand the diversity of places seeking support.

Building Community Capacity to Take Transformative Projects from Concept to Completion

Program Overview

Funded with an initial $25 million through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) new Thriving Communities Program (TCP) aims to ensure that disadvantaged communities adversely or disproportionately affected by environmental, climate, and human health policy outcomes have the technical tools and organizational capacity to compete for federal aid and deliver quality infrastructure projects that enable their communities and neighborhoods to thrive. Recognizing the importance of this transformative new program, Congress appropriated an additional $25 million to USDOT through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.

TCP facilitates the planning and development of transportation and community revitalization activities and provides tools to ensure that under-resourced communities can access the historic funding provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

The Thriving Communities Program will be administered by the Build America Bureau as part of its broader efforts to provide technical assistance to communities. 

The Thriving Communities Program is part of the larger Federal Thriving Communities Initiative. USDOT is coordinating with other federal agencies through the Thriving Communities Network, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development along with the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, who each recently announced Thriving Communities technical assistance programs. USDOT also invites partnerships with local and national philanthropic organizations to ensure that all communities can access funding resources and implement programs that help them to thrive.