Federal Transit Administration

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) helps keep public transportation systems moving. The FTA is one of 10 modal divisions of the Department of Transportation and provides financial assistance to develop new transit systems while maintaining existing ones. It commits grants to state and local transit providers and oversees their compliance to federal mandates. Grantees include bus, subway, light-rail, commuter-rail, monorail, ferry-boat, trolley, and inclined-railway systems. The FTA assists transit agencies in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other territories. The agency administers about $10 billion per year, most of it grant funds, but operates on about $95 million.