FY 2025-26 Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant
Information
Purpose:
Sustainable Communities support/implement an RTP SCS/APS & help achieve the CA GHG reduction targets.
Climate Adaptation Planning support local/regional ID of transportation-related climate vulnerabilities & project-level adaptation planning.
Strategic Partnerships support Federal Planning Factors and address state highway/transit issues of regional, interregional, &/or statewide significance.
Planning projects must have a transportation nexus.
Description:
The Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program was created to support the California Department of Transportation’s (Caltrans) Mission: Provide a safe and reliable transportation network that serves all people and respects the environment.
The California Legislature passed, and Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law, Senate Bill 1 (SB 1, Beall, Chapter 5, Statutes of 2017) – The Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, a transportation funding bill that provides a reliable fund source to maintain and integrate the State’s multimodal transportation system. In addition to the $9.5 million in traditional State and federal grants, approximately $25 million in SB 1 funds for Sustainable Communities Grants is available for each grant cycle.
The State-funded Sustainable Communities grants ($29.5 million) are intended to support and implement Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) Sustainable Communities Strategies/Alternative Planning Strategies (SCS/APS) (where applicable) and to ultimately achieve the State’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 40 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 2050, respectively.
The State-funded Climate Adaptation Planning grants ($3 million) enacted with Senate Bill 198 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 71, Statutes of 2022), will support local and regional identification of transportation-related climate vulnerabilities through the development of climate adaptation plans, as well as project-level adaptation planning to identify adaptation projects and strategies for transportation infrastructure.
The federal-funded Strategic Partnerships and Strategic Partnership Transit grants ($4.5 million) support Federal Planning Factors and address State highway/transit issues of regional, interregional, and/or statewide significance, in partnership with Caltrans.
Eligible planning projects must have a transportation nexus per Article XIX Sections 2 and 3 of the California Constitution. Therefore, successful planning projects are expected to directly benefit the multimodal transportation system. These grants will also improve public health, social equity, environmental justice, the environment, and provide other important community benefits.
Additional details are provided in the STPG Application Guide available on the STPG website using the URL below.
https://dot.ca.gov/programs/transportation-planning/division-of-transportation-planning/regional-and-community-planning/sustainable-transportation-planning-grants