Keep Reading: FTA Proposes Removal of Carbon Cost Metric from Grant Criteria
FTA Updates Capital Investment Grants Guidance for FY2026
CIG is the largest federal discretionary grant program for transit capital investments, including heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars, and bus rapid transit.
November 14, 2025
The update amends FTA’s CIG Policy Guidance published in December 2024 and includes the feedback FTA received when it published its Proposed CIG Policy Guidance for public comment.
Photo: METRO
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Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Administrator Marc Molinaro recently announced the agency finalized guidance for its Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program, which included eliminating complex calculations for a ‘social cost of carbon’ criterion.
“More than half of transit agencies who responded to our change agreed with dumping [these] calculations,” Molinaro said in a release.
FTA will revert to a previously used methodology that relies on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) designation, based on the city in which a transit project is located.
Additional Information on Policy Guidance
The update amends FTA’s CIG Policy Guidance published in December 2024 and includes the feedback FTA received when it published its Proposed CIG Policy Guidance for public comment last August. Among the 16 respondents providing comments were transit agencies, interest groups, policy organizations, and individuals.
FTA will use this guidance for the CIG program’s FY2026 Annual Report ratings, available on FTA’s website.
For more information, visit the CIG Regulations and Guidance webpage.
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