Federal grant programs / Department of Transportation

Thriving Communities Program Capacity Builders Cooperative Agreements (20.942)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$44.8 million
• Grant awards13
• Typical award$4.3 million
• Awarded in FY 2025$0
• Size rank1,072 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceCooperative agreement

Key findings

• It is the 1072nd largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 13 largest recipients received 100% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 11 states and territories.

What the program funds

4 Capacity Builders were selected for FY22 and 9 Capacity Builders (6 Regional and 3 National) were selected for FY23 funding. Each are under a cooperative agreement and are currently providing technical assistance (TA), planning, and capacity building to improve and foster thriving communities through transportation improvements. The selected organizations offer support to communities, enabling them to plan and develop a pipeline of transportation and community revitalization activities that increase mobility, reduce pollution from transportation sources, expand affordable transportation options, facilitate efficient land use, preserve or expand jobs, improve housing conditions, enhance connections to health care, education, and food security, or improve health outcomes. The selected Capacity Builder organizations support Communities of Practice (or “cohorts”). Each Capacity Builder is assigned to a cohort; and paired with a set of 10-15 communities to provide the support detailed in the NOFO and finalized in their scope of work. The cohort model makes use of peer learning, customized services, and subject matter expertise. The FY22 and FY23 Communities of Practice include: Main Streets – Focused on Tribal and rural communities and the interconnected transportation, community, and economic development issues they face.? Complete Neighborhoods – Focused on urban and suburban communities located within Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) planning areas working to better coordinate transportation with land use, housing, and economic development.?? Networked Communities – Focused on those communities located near ports, airports, freight, and rail facilities to address mobility, access, housing, environmental justice, and economic issues. FY23 added a Regional Cohort to include Alaska DOT, State of Colorado Office of Economic Recovery, Louisiana Division of Administration Planning Office, Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Division, and New York State DOT

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 are non-profit organizations, state or local governments and their agencies (such as transit agencies or metropolitan planning organizations), Tribes, philanthropic entities, and other technical assistance providers with a demonstrated capacity to develop and provide technical assistance, planning, and capacity building.

What the money can and cannot pay for

1. Delivering individualized deep-dive technical assistance, planning, and capacity building to selected communities across pre-development and grant application activities through project development, project funding and financing, and project delivery. 2. Establishing and managing a national Community of Practice to advance policies, practices and projects informed by meaningful public involvement and partnership. 3. Providing targeted technical support as part of the national TCP capacity building network.

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

FY22 awards varied from $5.05 million to $5.9 million. Four awards were made. In FY23, up to 9 awards are forecasted. Up to five State/Regional Capacity Builder Awards are expected, with a range of $750,000 to $2 million. Up to four National Capacity Builder Awards are expected, with a range of $4 million to $5.5 million.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2024-04/FY23%20TCP_Selected%20National%20Capacity%20Builders%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

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

Nonprofits received 55% of the money, state and local governments 23% and businesses 22%.

By state

Each state below has its own page for this program, with its recipients and yearly totals.

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