Department of Transportation · Transportation
Formula Grants for Rural Areas (Section 5311)
Funds public-transportation capital and operating in non-urbanized areas (<50K population). States apportion among rural cities, intercity bus operators, and tribal operators.
Whether your city can win this comes down to hard rules — population, designation, match capacity. Run your city and our AI checks it against the rules below in about 8 minutes.
Program facts
- Typical award
- $50K – $10M
- Non-federal match
- 20% (verify basis)
- Eligible entity
- U.S. cities & local governments
- Application window
- State pass-through cycles.
- Typical prep time
- 4–10 weeks
- Statutory authority
- 49 U.S.C. §5311
Who is eligible for Formula Grants for Rural Areas (Section 5311)?
These are the hard rules we check against. If one fails, the program is ineligible — the AI never overrides a rule.
- Cities are eligible applicants.
- Rural eligibility: population under 50,000 (USDA threshold).
Federal share 80% for capital, 50% for operating. State DOT administers. Amounts and timing approximate; verify directly with administering agency.
How Strategic Pursuit scores this program
Run a city dossier and our AI cross-checks ACS demographics, 5-year USAspending award history, FEMA disaster history, and CEJST/Justice40 + HUD designations against this program's rules. You get a clear eligibility, strategic, and competitive answer — with the city's own hard evidence ready to anchor the narrative — instead of a generic match badge. And if it's a no-go, you'll know before you spend the month.
The dossier isn't the AI's guesswork — eligibility is decided by the rules, and the numbers come straight from official sources. The answer your reviewer will check line by line.
No credit card. 30-day trial, 3 dossiers, 1 seat.
Related programs
- RAISE Discretionary Grants (DOT)$1M – $25M
- INFRA Grants (Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects) (DOT)$25M – $200M
- MEGA / National Infrastructure Project Assistance (DOT)$100M – $500M
- Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) (DOT)$200K – $25M
- Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program (DOT)$500K – $100M
- Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (Highway Trust Fund Formula) (DOT)$500K – $50M
Award ranges, match percentages, and windows are approximate.