Applying for ATP funds

ATP grants will be competitively awarded based on the scoring criteria.

Eligible Applicants

• Local, Regional, or State Agencies; i.e cities, counties, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Regional Transportation Planning Agencies, Natural Resource or Public Land Agencies
• Transit Agencies
• Public schools or School districts
• Natural resources or public land agencies
• Tribal Governments: Federally-recognized Native American Tribes
• Private nonprofit tax-exempt organizations in limited cases (see below):
  • May apply for Recreational Trail Projects and Parks Projects
  • NOTE that the new federal transportation bill (FAST) makes nonprofits eligible for non-infrastructure funds, but FHWA has not yet released guidance to state departments of transportation as of April 2016. As a result, nonprofits will not be eligible to apply for Cycle 3 non-infrastructure funds unless they are applying for trail projects.

Statewide Competition vs. Regional

The ATP is divided into three competitive funding opportunities – a statewide competition for all communities, which chooses projects first; a competition for only small cities and rural regions, and a competition for large urban regions.

• Statewide competition – 50% of funding goes to projects in any size community to be competitively awarded by the California Transportation Commission on a statewide basis. At least 25% is required to benefit disadvantaged communities. In Cycle 1 (2014), at least 40% was required to be awarded to Safe Routes to School projects but there is no set-aside in later cycles.
• Small Urban and Rural Regions – 10% of funding goes to small urban and rural areas with populations of 200,000 or less and that are not located within a metropolitan planning organization (for instance, most of Southern California falls within the SCAG boundary and is not eligible for this pot of funding). At least 25% required to benefit disadvantaged communities.
• Large Urban Regions – 40% of ATP funding goes to Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in urban areas with populations more than 200,000. At least 25% is required to benefit disadvantaged communities. MPOs may also set their own regional guidelines and issue a separate call for applications with a different deadline, so check with your local MPO for more information.

Cycle 3 (2016) Regional Funding Competition Calls for Projects

Please note that these dates are tentative until approved by the CTC later this spring. Each region has a different process for accepting applications. Some regions require that you apply for the statewide competition.

• MTC (Bay Area) – TBD
• SANDAG (San Diego)  – TBD
• SCAG (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura & Imperial Counties) – TBD
• StanCOG (Stanislaus County) – TBD
• SJCOG (San Joaquin): TBD
• SACOG (Sacramento): TBD
• FCOG (Fresno) – TBD
• TCAG/(Tulare County) – TBD
• KernCOG (Kern): March 26 – June 1 *note: KernCOG link is to a meeting document that outlines their process in chpt 6-5 (pg 39)

Cycle 3 Funding Minimums/Maximums

• The minimum funding request per project for ATP is $250,000. This minimum does not apply to non-infrastructure projects, Safe Routes to Schools projects, and Recreational Trails projects.
• Matching funds are not required as of Cycle 2 (2015). However, applicants receive up to 5 points for leveraging or matching non-ATP funds. These funds may not be expended prior to the ATP award and must be in the same project phase.

Important Dates for Cycle 3 (2016)

• April 15, 2016 Call for project applications released
• June 15, 2016: Deadline for project applications to CTC. (postmark)
• June to August: MPOs in some large urban regions will open calls for projects
• October 28, 2016: California Transportation Commission will announce awards for the Statewide Competition and Small Urban/Rural Competition.
• January 2017: MPOs will announce awards for large urban regions.