On June 2, 2025, the Intergovernmental Team at the Department of Transportation (DOT) held a call to provide updates and share resources and information with stakeholders. Officials discussed the secretary’s priorities for funding applicants and highlighted notices of funding opportunities (NOFOs), with the comprehensive NOFO announcement webpage to relaunch soon.
Secretary Duffy’s Priorities
Secretary Sean Duffy has four key priorities when making funding and project decisions. Project components that DOT suggested should be emphasized in applications, where applicable, include:
- Safety: The fatal collision between a civilian flight and Army aircraft occurred at Reagan National Airport the day after Secretary Duffy was sworn in. He has vowed to prioritize how applications for projects advance safety.
- Innovation: The department wants to position the U.S. to be a world leader in building “bigger, beautiful” projects, with an emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness, for example, projects pertaining to drones and AI.
- Families: The secretary, as a father of nine himself, believes that areas where birth rates and marriage rates are higher than the national average will see more growth and need investment in infrastructure and “planning for the future.”
- “Turning Dirt”: DOT and the broader Trump administration want to decrease waiting time between notification of the grant and the start of the process, and thus “shovel-ready” projects will be well positioned.
Current and Upcoming Grants / Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs)
Department officials clarified that no USDOT grants have been frozen and indicated that all formula grants funding will continue to go out. DOT had inherited a backlog of about 3,200 projects, 1,000 of which had been awarded as the Biden administration left office and were not ready for grant agreements. The department will continue to work on this backlog and release approvals in large batches.
This year, DOT has issued 23 NOFOs totaling $3.7 billion in funding opportunities. Current funding opportunities include:
- Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A)
- Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART)
- Regional Infrastructure Accelerators Program(RIA)
- High Priority-Commercial Motor Vehicle (HP-CMV)
- FTA Low or No Emission Grant Program and the Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Competitive Program
- Buses and Bus Facility Competitive Grant Program (closes July 14, 2025)
- Low or No-Emission Program (closes July 14, 2025)
In the next few months, Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will release their grant programs.
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