The FMCSA announces the availability of High Priority grant funding. Eligible awardees for High Priority funding are State agencies, local governments, and organizations representing government agencies that use and train qualified officers and employees in coordination with State motor vehicle safety agencies.

The FMCSA may award grants to support, enrich, or evaluate State commercial motor vehicle (CMV) safety programs that:

• Implement, promote, and maintain national programs to improve CMV safety;

• Increase compliance with CMV safety regulations;

• Increase public awareness about CMV safety;

• Provide education on CMV safety and related issues;

• and Demonstrate new safety related technologies. 

Priority is given to applications that demonstrate a direct connection between proposed activities and improvements in any or all of these areas. Funding is available for projects that are national in scope; these applications are typically submitted by non-governmental organizations.

Link: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=185493

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announces the availability of funds in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 for the Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility (OTRB) Program, initially authorized by Section 3038 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21).

The OTRB program makes funds available to private operators of over-the-road buses to finance the incremental capital and training costs of complying with DOT’s over-the-road bus accessibility regulation. The authorizing legislation calls for national solicitation of proposals, with grantees to be selected on a competitive basis. Program funds are available to intercity fixed-route providers and other OTRB providers at up to 90 percent of the project cost.

Link: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=169733

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) hereby requests applications for assistance to result in the award of multiple grant agreements under the Highways for LIFE Technology Partnerships Program. The focus of the 2012 Technology Partnership Program solicitation is to work with the highway industry to accelerate the adoption of promising innovations that

1) have the potential to directly reduce crashes or crash severity or

2) innovations that significantly enhance decision-making relative to the deployment of treatments to reduce crashes, crash severity and the understanding of the effectiveness of the treatments.

The program is intended to provide the financial impetus to demonstrate a proven non-highway related innovation or to refine or improve existing innovations that have been demonstrated but not become adopted as routine or common practice in the highway industry.

The Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971  gave the USCG new authority to deal with the large growth in recreational boating, including new programs for boat construction standards, boat defect correction oversight, boat operator requirements, and state financial assistance. The state financial assistance program was established to promote cooperative efforts between the USCG and states’ boating safety programs. The majority of the program’s financial assistance funds are allocated to the states and eligible U.S. territories via a formula fixed in law. However, the program funding also includes up to 5% of the total state financial assistance available each year may be set aside for awards to eligible national nonprofit public service organizations to support National Recreational Boating Safety Program activities. This announcement