The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) released approximately $15 million in competitive funding to help American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments strengthen public transportation options that improve access to jobs, education, medical services and other critical needs in underserved rural areas.

The FTA Tribal Transit Program provides discretionary grants to projects eligible to receive planning, capital and operating assistance for tribal public transit services. Some grants will be used to plan or launch new bus, van and commuter service in rural communities that have never been served by public transit before.

Under the Tribal Transit Program, eligible recipients include federally-recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages, groups, or communities, as identified by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior.

Last year, the FTA reviewed 116 project applications for the Tribal Transit Program, representing more than $41.6 million in funding requests from tribal transit providers across the country.