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Idaho to receive more than $37 million for transit projects this year

The Federal Transit Administration on Thursday published details about the formula funding that helps communities maintain and operate public transportation.

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Idaho will receive about $37.1 million in federal formula funding for public transit. The Boise metro area will receive more than $6.3 million of that funding, the U.S. Federal Transit Administration announced Thursday.

Idaho's funding for Fiscal Year 2023 is part of the more than $21 billion in federal spending to support transit systems across the nation. Of that total, $14 billion in federal formula funding is apportioned to states and transit agencies to help pay for things like upgrading stations, transitioning to next-generation buses, planning and designing new transit corridors, and providing specialized service for senior citizens and people with disabilities.

Formula funding is established according to formulas set by Congress based on population totals and transit ridership data. The FTA said at least 28 million people in the U.S. are transit-dependent and rely on trains, buses or ferries to travel to jobs, school, community services, or to visit friends and family. That figure does not include those who may choose to leave their cars at home for environmental reasons and use public transit instead. 

Boise is among the communities receiving funding distributed to urbanized areas with populations of 200,000 or more.

More information is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Friday. An unpublished version is posted online.

The FTA said in a news release that this round of funding "represents the largest-ever annual investment in American pubic transportation."

The FTA also said that due in part to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Congress approved and President Joe Biden signed in 2022, this year's transit formula funding represents a 28% increase over previous levels. That law reauthorized surface transportation programs for fiscal years 2022 through 2026, and provides advance funding for some programs.

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