Federal Transit Administration

History

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy sent a message to the U.S. Congress calling for the creation of a program of federal capital assistance for mass transportation. President Kennedy said, "To conserve and enhance values in existing urban areas is essential. But at least as important are steps to promote economic efficiency and livability in areas of future development. Our national welfare therefore requires the provision of good urban transportation, with the properly balanced use of private vehicles and modern mass transport to help shape as well as serve urban growth."

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 into law, which passed the House by a vote of 212–129 and cleared the Senate 52–41, creating the Urban Mass Transportation Administration. The agency was charged with providing federal assistance for mass transit projects, including an initial $375 million in capital assistance over three years as mandated by the act. In 1991, the agency was renamed the Federal Transit Administration.

Administrators

The Administrator is Marc Molinaro since August 4, 2025. Below is a list of past administrators.

Notable programs

• Metropolitan & Statewide Planning
• Urbanized Formula Funding
• Clean Fuels Grant Program
• Major Capital Investments
• Fixed Guideway Modernization
• Transportation for Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities
• Formula Grants for Other than Urbanized Areas
• Public Transportation on Indian Reservations
• Rural Transit Assistance Program
• Transit Cooperative Research Program
• National Research & Technology Program
• Job Access and Reverse Commute Program
• New Freedom Program
• Bus and Bus Facilities
• Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program
• Alternatives Analysis
• University Transportation Centers Program
• Over-the-Road Bus Program
• BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development), formerly TIGER (Transit Investment Generating Economic Recovery)
• Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction (TIGGER) Program
• Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative Capital Grants Program

National Transit Database

Since 1974, the National Transit Database (NTD) has served as the repository for data on the financial, operating, and asset conditions of the public transit systems of the United States, statistics that FTA uses to help apportion funding to urbanized and rural areas in the country. NTD data products, which are all free and open to the public, reflect a wide range of characteristics of its participating systems, including agency funding sources, vehicle and facility inventories, maintenance and state-of-good repair reports, safety data, catalogues of available transit services, modal breakdown, ridership estimates, and transit employment numbers.

Specific metrics reported to the NTD by participating agencies include Vehicle Revenue Miles (VRM), Vehicle Revenue Hours (VRH), Passenger Miles Traveled (PMT), Unlinked Passenger Trips (UPT), and Operating Expenses (OE).

References

References

1. "Special Message to the Congress on Transportation. {{!}} The American Presidency Project".
2. "The Beginnings of Federal Assistance for Public Transportation". Federal Transit Administration.
3. "Urban Transportation Planning In the United States: An Historical Overview". U.S. Department of Transportation.
4. (March 1, 2009). "Heads of the Operating Administrations, U.S. Department of Transportation". Office of the Historian, [[United States Department of Transportation.
5. (January 16, 2014). "Leadership Shakeup at Transportation Department".
6. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/about/news/jane-williams-appointed-deputy-fta-administrator dot.gov]
7. [https://transit.dot.gov/grants/13093_3563.html Metropolitan & Statewide Planning (5303, 5304, 5305)]{{dead link. (July 2025)
8. [https://web.archive.org/web/20161101111515/https://www.transit.dot.gov/grants/13093_3561.html Urbanized Formula Funding (5307)]. Federal Transit Administration.
9. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/clean-fuels-grant-program-5308 Clean Fuels Grant Program (5308)] . Federal Transit Administration.
10. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grant-programs/capital-investments/about-program Major Capital Investments (New Starts & Small Starts) (5309(b)(1))] . Federal Transit Administration.
11. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/grant-programs/fixed-guideway-modernization-5309-b2 Fixed Guideway Modernization (5309 (b)(2))] . Federal Transit Administration.
12. [https://transit.dot.gov/grants/13093_3556.html Transportation for Elderly Persons and Persons with Disabilities (5310)]{{dead link. (July 2025)
13. [https://transit.dot.gov/grants/13093_3555.html Formula Grants for Other than Urbanized Areas (5311)] {{Webarchive. link. (August 28, 2018 . Federal Transit Administration.)
14. [https://web.archive.org/web/20161105165107/https://www.transit.dot.gov/grants/13094_3553.html Public Transportation on Indian Reservations (5311(c))]. Federal Transit Administration.. Federal Transit Administration.
15. [https://transit.dot.gov/grants/13093_3554.html Rural Transit Assistance Program (5311(b)(3))]{{dead link. (July 2025)
16. [https://transit.dot.gov/grants/13094_3552.html Transit Cooperative Research Program (5313)] {{Webarchive. link. (August 28, 2018 . Federal Transit Administration.)
17. [https://transit.dot.gov/grants/13094_3551.html National Research & Technology Program (5314)]{{dead link. (July 2025)
18. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/grant-programs/job-access-and-reverse-commute-program-5316 Job Access and Reverse Commute Program (5316)] . Federal Transit Administration.
19. [https://transit.dot.gov/grants/13093_3549.html New Freedom Program (5317)] {{Webarchive. link. (August 28, 2018 . Federal Transit Administration.)
20. [https://transit.dot.gov/grants/13094_3557.html Bus and Bus Facilities (5309, 5318)] {{Webarchive. link. (August 28, 2018 . Federal Transit Administration.)
21. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/grant-programs/paul-s-sarbanes-transit-parks-program-5320 Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program (5320)] . Federal Transit Administration.
22. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/alternatives-analysis-5339 Alternatives Analysis (5339)] . Federal Transit Administration.
23. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/university-transportation-centers-program-tea-21-5505 University Transportation Centers Program (TEA-21 5505)] . Federal Transit Administration.
24. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/over-road-bus-program Over-the-Road Bus Program] . Federal Transit Administration.
25. "Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Grants Program (formerly TIGER)". United States Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration.
26. [https://transit.dot.gov/grants/13094_13647.html TIGER (USDOT)]{{dead link. (July 2025)
27. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grants/tigger-program TIGGER Program] . Federal Transit Administration.
28. [https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grant-programs/veterans-transportation/veterans-transportation-and-community-living Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative Capital Grants Program] . Federal Transit Administration.
29. "National Transit Database". Federal Transit Administration.