The DOT Federal Highway Administration is soliciting applications for its FHWA’s Strategic Innovation for Revenue Collection (SIRC) Program.
Donor Name: DOT Federal Highway Administration
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/27/2024
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 5 Years
Details:
The purpose of the SIRC Program is to provide grants to eligible entities to test the feasibility of a road usage fee and other user-based alternative revenue mechanisms to help maintain the longterm solvency of the Highway Trust Fund. Eligible entities include: a State or a group of States; a local government or a group of local governments; a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) or a group of MPOs and multijurisdictional groups. A multi-jurisdictional group is any combination of States, local governments, or MPOs. BIL authorized $15 million per year for FYs 2022 – 2026 for SIRC grants from funds made available for the Highway Research and Development Program under 23 U.S.C. 503(b).
Objectives
SIRC grant funds must be used to carry out a pilot project that addresses one or more of the objectives provided in BIL section 13001(b)(3):
- To test the design, acceptance, equity, and implementation of user-based alternative revenue mechanisms, including among— (i) differing income groups; and (ii) rural and urban drivers, as applicable.
- To provide recommendations regarding adoption and implementation of userbased alternative revenue mechanisms.
- To quantify and minimize the administrative costs of any potential user-based alternative revenue mechanisms.
- To test a variety of solutions, including the use of independent and private thirdparty vendors, for the collection of data and fees from user-based alternative revenue mechanisms, including the reliability and security of those solutions and vendors.
- To test solutions to ensure the privacy and security of data collected for the purpose of implementing a user-based alternative revenue mechanism.
- To conduct public education and outreach to increase public awareness regarding the need for user-based alternative revenue mechanisms for surface transportation programs.
- To evaluate the ease of compliance and enforcement of a variety of implementation approaches for different users of the surface transportation system.
- To ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, the use of innovation.
- To consider, to the greatest extent practicable, the potential for revenue collection along a network of alternative fueling stations.
- To evaluate the impacts of the imposition of a user-based alternative revenue mechanism on— (i) transportation revenues; (ii) personal mobility, driving patterns, congestion, and transportation costs; and (iii) freight movement and costs.
- To evaluate options for the integration of a user-based alternative revenue mechanism with— (i) nationwide transportation revenue collections and regulations; (ii) toll revenue collection platforms; (iii) transportation network company fees; and (iv) any other relevant transportation revenue mechanisms.
FHWA interprets the focus of the SIRC Program to be on broad-based alternative revenue mechanisms that could ultimately be scaled to a national level to help maintain the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund, as opposed to localized solutions that are not scalable. The contributions to the knowledge base of potentially transferrable solutions to maintain the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund must be made clear.
Funding Information
The total amount of funding available for awards under this NOFO is up to $15 million per fiscal year (up to $30 million FY 2022 – FY 2023 and $15 million FY 2024).
Project Period
The period of performance shall not exceed 5 years.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible entities include a State or a group of States; a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPOs) or a group of Metropolitan Planning Organizations; a local government or a group of local governments; and multi-jurisdictional groups. An eligible multi-jurisdictional group is any combination of States, local governments, or Metropolitan Planning Organizations for which each member of the group has signed a written agreement to participate in the SIRC pilot project across jurisdictional boundaries. If the applicant is a multijurisdictional group, one entity in the group will be required to administer the Federal funding, which may also entail providing project oversight. Where applicable, FHWA expects that all relevant State agencies (e.g., Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Revenue) needed to initiate a full-scale deployment of the proposed revenue mechanism will be actively involved in the planning and operation of a pilot project.
- If a State has previously proven the viability of an alternative revenue mechanism in a limited capacity through its own research, it may still be a candidate for funding under the SIRC Program. Applications for full, new pilot projects and for extensions or enhancements of previous pilot or demonstration projects are both eligible if they meet the other eligibility requirements.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
