grant funding offered for native american transportation projects

The federal Department of Transportation has announced that it is offering more than $5 million in grants for transit projects specific to Native American and Alaska Native communities.

The funding is coming through the department’s Tribal Transport Program, an effort that last year awarded grants for some 36 individual projects in 36 states, with three projects in Arizona, one in Colorado, and one in New Mexico receiving backing.

In a statement, K. Jane Williams, the deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, said the purpose of the grant program, otherwise known as Tribal Transit funds, is to “improve the quality of life in some of our most remote rural communities by providing safe and efficient transit service.”

Last year, the program awarded nearly $50,000 for the construction of a bus and storage facility for the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona; $250,000 for the upgrading of a main transit facility for the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota; and $159,000 for the upgrading of a maintenance and storage shed at the Kalispell Reservation in Washington.

Applications for this year’s Public Transportation on Indian Reservations Tribal Transit grants have to be submitted no later than September 10.

By Garry Boulard