Over $46 million available to communities to support multi-modal transportation options

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee along with Deputy Governor & Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Commissioner Butch Eley announced today the award of over $46 million in state and federal grant funds that support multimodal investments in walking, biking, and transit statewide in Tennessee.

“Increasing safety, promoting healthy lifestyles, and providing improved access to our cities and towns make our communities better places to live and work,” said Gov. Lee. “I’m pleased the state can provide the support necessary to move these projects forward.”

The awards announcement is for three grant programs administered through TDOT. The Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant is made possible through a federally funded program. A variety of activities, such as the restoration of historic facilities, bike and pedestrian trails, landscaping, and other non-traditional transportation projects, are eligible for grant funds under the federal program. This year TDOT is awarding $15,201,777 to seven communities.

“Since 1991, through these grants, TDOT has funded $400 million in non-traditional transportation projects,” said Deputy Governor & TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley.  “This program has assisted communities across Tennessee in their efforts to revitalize downtowns, highlight historic areas, provide alternative means of transportation, and increase opportunities for economic development.”

For more information and a list of this year’s TAP grantees, please visit TDOT’s website at Transportation Alternatives Program (tn.gov).

In addition, TDOT received 12 applications from 10 transit agencies in the IMPROVE Transit Investment Grant competitive call for projects and is awarding $18,754,216 to these agencies. Since 2018, TDOT has awarded nearly $88 million in state funding through the department’s competitive transit grant program. This funding has allowed transit agencies to have a mechanism to build new facilities and transit options across Tennessee. Several examples include new transit centers in Kingsport, Pigeon Forge, Murfreesboro, and Nashville. Other examples include electric buses and infrastructure in Knoxville and Chattanooga as well as the advancement of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Memphis with the Innovation Corridor. For a list of this year’s grantees, please visit TDOT’s website at IMPROVE Transit Investment Grant (tn.gov).

TDOT also awarded $12,529,075 in Multimodal Access Grant (MMAG) funding for 12 projects supporting pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users through infrastructure projects that address existing gaps along state routes. Four of the projects, totaling $4 million, are in distressed and at-risk counties. For a list of these projects please visit TDOT’s website at Multimodal Access Grant (tn.gov).