Today, the administration announced the availability of $522,237,467 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds for Georgia’s transit operators which is made available by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The CARES Act was signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020.
Of the total CARES Act funds made available to Georgia, the FTA has allocated $370.94 million to the Atlanta urbanized area transit operators, $26.58M for other Large Urban Areas such as Augusta, Columbus, Savannah, $75.0 million for Georgia’s rural operators and $49.68 million to the small urban transit operators. The FTA’s priority for CARES Act funding is to support operational expenses associated with impacts of COVID-19, which includes covering operating costs to maintain service, making up for lost revenue due to the pandemic, purchase of personal protective equipment, and payment of administrative leave of operations personnel. The Funds are 100% federal and require no local matching funds.
The Atlanta Region-Transit Link Authority officially notified metro Atlanta’s transit operators of their portion of FTA CARES Act funding and informed they could immediately apply to FTA to access the funds. “The CARES Act funding is critical to keeping the Atlanta region’s transit network moving”, stated Chris Tomlinson, ATL Executive Director. “These funds come at a much needed time and will help to support those transit employees who continue to serve this region on the front lines of the COVID-19 response.” Operators receiving CARES Act funding through the FTA Large Urban Program include:
For questions related to the CARES Act funding allocated to GDOT for rural transit and small urban transit contact Scott Higley, Communications Executive Director at shigley@dot.ga.gov. For questions related to funding allocated to ATL for urban transit operators in Metro-Atlanta, contact Ericka Davis, Chief Communications Officer at edavis@srta.ga.gov.
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