FTA Triennial Review Program   8

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is one of eleven modal agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). FTA awards grants under several different formula and discretionary funding programs each year under Chapter 53 of Title 49 of the United States Code (49 U.S.C. Chapter 53). For FY2010, 1,010 grants were awarded and for FY2011, there were 1,462 grant awards totaling over $11.1 billion.

The largest of these funding programs is the Urbanized Area Formula Grant program, which represents approximately 36 percent of all grant funds awarded by FTA each year. This grant program is authorized under 49 U.S.C. 5307 to provide funding to transit providers in urbanized areas. FTA currently has 620 active Section 5307 grant recipients (grantees) that range in size and complexity from small transit operators that only provide bus and para-transit service to large and complex agencies that provide bus, rail, and ferry service. Geographically, these grantees are located throughout all 50 states and in the U.S. territories.

FTA is responsible for conducting oversight activities to help ensure that recipients of Section 5307 grants use the funds in a manner consistent with their intended purpose and in compliance with regulatory and statutory requirements. To accomplish this, FTA utilizes multiple contractors to conduct oversight reviews of these grantees and ensures that each receives a review at least once every three years; hence the review is called the Triennial Review.