How to Secure Grant Funding for Transportation Projects

Pursuing a federal transportation grant is a great way to secure money for a local infrastructure project that is short of necessary funding or whose identified funding may not be available for several years. However, these grants are quite competitive, with only approximately 10% of all federal grant applications being selected for award. For the best chance of success, it is imperative to make your application stand out by telling a compelling story that highlights how key project features can help achieve grant requirements.

Federal grant application submittal windows typically last as few as two months and trigger an intense production process that includes fast tracking of data discovery and research, data analysis, narrative development, financial planning and obtaining other key supporting documentation. While some recipients win a grant on their first try, it can often take repeated attempts to the same or different grant programs to receive approval, draining staff and budget resources. Many applicants are frustrated when their evaluation falls short of the “Highly Recommended” goal for a grant award. In addition, not all “Highly Recommended” projects receive funding. Because federal grant programs are typically oversubscribed, partnering with a company that has the experience and expertise to create a convincing and compelling application enhances your prospects of being awarded a grant and is a more efficient use of time and money.

Over the past three years, we’ve successfully led grant applications for eight agency partners who received more than $3.2 billion in competitive federal grant funding, enabling their projects to move forward. Here is our approach that has enabled these projects to receive a “Highly Recommended” evaluation score, improving their odds of receiving funds. An initial screening is performed by our team to confirm a project is aligned with grant program objectives and scoring criteria. Next, we collaborate with the agency to identify project’s strengths relative to grant evaluation criteria. This proactive, holistic approach to crafting a compelling project story includes identifying key supporting technical analyses to underpin supporting project themes.

In Miami Beach, where tidal flooding and severe weather frequently overruns surface streets, these techniques helped secure an $18 million Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) grant for the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) SR 907/Alton Road project. We first developed a detailed analysis of historic and projected high tide patterns affecting roadway flooding. A regional travel demand model and available traffic data was then used to identify and analyze the impact of traffic detour routes when the roadway was closed due to flooding. By painting a vivid picture, evaluators could better appreciate the benefits of approving the project.

Seeing beyond the numbers also paved the way for the City of Miami’s I-395 Underdeck Open Space and Heritage Trail project. Using a travel demand model to create a multimodal trip table for the area surrounding the project, we were able to quantify pedestrian and bicycle demand for the one-mile trail corridor. Additional research also enabled monetization of the positive effects the project would have on property values in the surrounding historic Overtown community and new high-rise developments nearby. This approach helped the city secure $60.3 million in U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Neighborhoods Access and Equity (NAE) program funds.

I-395 Underdeck Open Space and Heritage Trail project (City of Miami with Florida DOT)

In Austin, Interstate 35 (I-35) has long separated historically disadvantaged East Austin from downtown. Our team helped tell the story of how East Austin has been underserved by government policies for more than a century and how the city’s transformative Our Future 35 program will reconnect Austin with safe multimodal transportation facilities and other community amenities. Focusing on the requirements of the NAE program, we demonstrated Austin’s plan to construct a 5.3-acre cap over I-35 advanced key USDOT priorities. The César Chávez Cap project was awarded $105.2 million in NAE funds.

César Chávez Cap project (City of Austin's Our Future 35 program) 

Likewise, we leveraged the City of Boulder’s outstanding planning efforts for safety, mobility, equity and resilience to propose a winning program of low-cost, high-impact safety countermeasures for its roadway network. Through detailed analysis of safety data and applicable crash modification factors, we showed how proposed safety improvements at key intersections and High Injury Network corridors would reduce fatalities and serious injuries citywide by more than 10% while also delivering 20% of project dollars to disadvantaged communities. The project won $23 million in USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program funds.

These success stories illustrate how implementing a systematic, value-added approach to federal grant applications can help your infrastructure project receive funding by putting its best foot forward.