Federal grant programs / Department of Transportation

Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program (20.938)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$528 million
• Grant awards25
• Typical award$25.0 million
• Awarded in FY 2025$377 million
• Size rank358 of 1824
• Type of assistanceGrant

Key findings

• It is the 358th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 19 largest recipients received 100% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 18 states and territories.

What the program funds

The Rural Surface Transportation Grant Program will provide Federal financial assistance to highway, bridge, and tunnel projects, highway safety projects, highway freight projects, and integrated mobility management projects, located in rural areas.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

Eligible Applicants include: States, regional transportation planning organizations, units of local government, Tribal governments or consortia of Tribal governments, or a multi-jurisdictional group of entities described above.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Eligible projects for Rural grants are: a highway, bridge, or tunnel project eligible under National Highway Performance Program(23 USC 119); a highway, bridge, or tunnel project eligible under Surface Transportation Block Grant (23 USC 133); a highway, bridge, or tunnel project eligible under Tribal Transportation Program (23 USC 202); a highway freight project eligible under National Highway Freight Program(23 USC 167); a highway safety improvement project, including a project to improve a high risk rural road as defined by the Highway Safety Improvement Program(23 USC 148); a project on a publicly-owned highway or bridge that provides or increases access to an agricultural, commercial, energy, or intermodal facility that supports the economy of a rural area; a project to develop, establish, or maintain an integrated mobility management system, a transportation demand management system, or on-demand mobility services. An eligible entity may bundle 2 or more similar eligible projects under the Rural program that are: included as a bundled project in a statewide transportation improvement program under 23 USC section 135; and are will be awarded to a single contractor or consultant pursuant to a contract for engineering and design or construction between the contractor and the eligible entity.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Rural grants may be used for up to 80 percent of future eligible project costs, except eligible projects that furthers the completion of a designated segment of the Appalachian Development Highway System under section 14501 of title 40 of the United States Code, or addresses a surface transportation infrastructure need identified for the Denali access system program under section 309 of the Denali Commission Act of 1998 may apply for up to 100 percent of the project costs. Other Federal assistance may satisfy the non-Federal share requirement for a Rural grant up to 100 percent of project costs.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

State and local governments received 93% of the money, tribes 6.9%.

By state

17 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.