Prince George’s is among a handful of select jurisdictions awarded special funds from the US Department of Transportation to help fight poverty.
Last week the US Department of Transportation announced grants to select jurisdictions to help fight poverty. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grants are intended to help marginalized communities. Approximately $16.2 million will fund 40 projects in 32 states and two territories through FTA’s Areas of Persistent Poverty (AoPP) program. FTA grants the awards on a competitive basis to state and local governments, transit agencies, and nonprofit organizations to create better transit for residents who have limited or no transportation options.
The Prince George’s Department of Public Works will receive $600,000 to,
…study ways to improve traffic safety, stormwater management, and streetscapes to discourage crime and improve transit access. The study will also assess how to extend its bus rapid transit corridor to Prince George’s County Community College. These improvements will connect people who live in an area that experiences persistent poverty to jobs, schools, healthcare, and other services and improve their health by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
AoPP grants are awarded for planning, engineering, and technical studies or financial plans to improve transit in Census-defined low-income areas. The program also supports coordinated human service transportation planning to improve transit service or provide new services, including paratransit. Thanks to the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, FTA expects to be able to support more projects in the next round of grant awards.
