FTA Awards Over $7 Million in CARES Act Funds to HDOT

Press Release

Today, the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) is receiving an award of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funds through the CARES Act on behalf of Maui Bus. HDOT successfully completed its grant application and is now being awarded $7,864,323 in Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula funds.

HDOT will use the grant funds for immediate operating assistance to Maui Bus, which services the Kahului, Maui small urbanized area, to sustain operations in order to respond to and recover from COVID-19.

Background: The Urbanized Area Formula Funding program (49 U.S.C. 5307) makes federal resources available to urbanized areas and to governors for transit capital and operating assistance in urbanized areas and for transportation-related planning. An urbanized area is an incorporated area with a population of 50,000 or more that is designated as such by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was the third COVID-19 emergency assistance bill passed by Congress. The bill included direct cash payments to Americans, assistance for those who are out of work due to the outbreak, funding for small businesses, hospitals, and health care workers, and state as well as local governments. The bill's funding for state and local governments included at least $1.2 billion for Hawai"i.

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