Apply for a public transportation grant

Below you'll find information for prospective applicants for state and federal grants administered by WSDOT's Public Transportation Division. Grants are funded on a biennial (two-year) basis, though some grant programs may fund projects on a four-year cycle. The following types of organizations qualify for at least some of WSDOT's public transportation grants: cities, counties, nonprofit agencies, private operators, senior centers, special districts (such as schools and ports), state agencies, transit agencies, and tribes.

Grant-funded projects include:

• Services such as transit; paratransit; transportation for the elderly, people with disabilities, and rural communities; commute trip reduction; and transit-pass programs.
• Vehicles and equipment such as new buses, rideshare vehicles, and supporting equipment.
• Infrastructure such as transit centers, park and ride lots, transit-signal-priority systems, and transit lanes.

The Grants Management System is a one-stop hub for public transportation grant applications, invoicing, and more. If the application method shown in the grants-at-a-glance table is in the Grants Management System, you will need to register for system access. Contact the help desk at PTDGMSSupport@wsdot.wa.gov, or (360) 705-7711 for more information on registering for or navigating the Grants Management System.

Grant opportunities

Rural Transit Assistance Program

The Rural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP) informational 2025 limited notice of funding opportunity – general transit feed specification (PDF 40KB) is now available. 

WSDOT has approximately $90,000 available per year to fund projects that provide statewide data standards work, including General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS), GTFS Flex, and GTFS Realtime data development and maintenance for transit operators in Washington state.

Any private or public entity with experience and capacity to meet eligible project requirements can apply. 

Proposed statewide data standards projects should meet the following requirements: 

• Data set development – Grantees will develop and publish all data sets in accordance with GTFS best practices.
• Data set maintenance – Grantees will maintain data sets based on the most current GTFS specification and will update data sets as needed with changes to the specification and best practices.
• Partnership with WSDOT – Grantees will partner with WSDOT to determine operators for which grantees maintain data. WSDOT anticipates that grantees will maintain data for up to 34 fixed-route operators providing service for 127 routes.
• Project scope and cost – Grantees must align proposed scope and hourly staff rate required to complete the project with available grant funding. 

The grant application will open July 1, 2025.

Applications

We currently do not have any grant opportunities open for application. We will post information here and on the webpages listed in the table below when grant opportunities become available. Applications will only be available between the application opening date and the due date. Applications may be completed using the Grants Management System or through coordination with WSDOT, depending on the grant program. More information is available by contacting our grants team.

Sign up for grant updates

To stay informed about WSDOT public transportation grants, you can register for updates by selecting “Public Transportation Grants” under “Funding” in the GovDelivery menu.

Grants at a glance

These tables provide an overview of key dates and application methods for the grants currently administered by WSDOT's Public Transportation Division. We will update the tables when grant programs are updated, added or completed.

Competitive grants

** Tribal transit funds will be awarded through the Consolidated Grant process for the 2025-2027 biennium. Interested tribal applicants must apply through the Consolidated Grant program.

*** This program is not funded beyond June 30, 2025. Dates shown above are for planning purposes if the program is funded in future biennia.

Discretionary grants

Formula grants

* Award date for state funds depends on the passage of the transportation budget.