Transit Village, Bikeways, and Safe Streets to Transit applications also being accepted (Trenton) – The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) today announced the grant solicitation period for NJDOT’s Fiscal Year 2023 State Aid programs is now open. Starting today, April 22, applications will be accepted for Municipal Aid, Transit Village, Bikeway, and Safe Streets to Transit programs through July 1, 2022.

“The New Jersey Department of Transportation has a number of grant programs that allow our cities and towns to make needed safety and quality-of-life improvements to enhance our local transportation infrastructure without the need to impact local property taxes,” NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said. “By providing financial assistance, technical expertise and training for municipal and county transportation initiatives, NJDOT is working to ensure New Jersey has a modern, efficient, and equitable transportation system.”

NJDOT’s grant cycles allow municipalities to incorporate awarded projects into upcoming municipal budgets to ensure that important infrastructure projects get to construction sooner. Grant awards are expected to be announced in November. The following is a brief description of each grant program:

• Municipal Aid - This $151.25 million program has been a significant resource in funding local transportation projects. All municipalities are eligible. The Department continues to encourage municipalities to consider using the Municipal Aid Program to fund projects that support walking and biking in their communities, especially now that additional funds are available. An additional $10 million is provided in Urban Aid for a total of $161.25 million.
• Transit Village - This $1 million program provides grants for traditional and non-traditional transportation projects that enhance walking, biking and/or transit ridership within a half mile of the transit facility. Only New Jersey municipalities that have been designated as Transit Villages by the Commissioner of Transportation and the inter-agency Transit Village Task Force are eligible to apply. The eligible town list can be found at: http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/business/localaid/transitvillagef.shtm
• Bikeways - This $1 million program is intended to fund bicycle projects that create new Bike Path Mileage. It is available to all counties and municipalities. The Department continues to work toward the goal of achieving 1,000 miles of dedicated bikeways in New Jersey. Special consideration will be given to bikeways that are physically separated from motorized vehicular traffic by an open space or barrier, but on-road bike lanes and other bike routes and facilities are also eligible for funding.
• Safe Streets to Transit - The intent of this $1 million program is to encourage counties and municipalities to construct safe and accessible pedestrian linkages to transit facilities, in order to promote increased usage of transit by all segments of the population.

The grants are administered by the NJDOT Division of Local Aid and Economic Development. The Local Aid Resource Center provides a central warehouse for local government managers by providing hands-on resources for the application process, raising awareness of grant cycles and proactively communicating program information.

For more information about Local Aid programs go to www.njdotlocalaidrc.com; email DOT-LocalAID.ResourceCenter@dot.nj.gov or call 609.649.9395. For NJDOT news follow us on Twitter @NewJerseyDOT and on the NJDOT Facebook page.