FHWA SMART Grant Overview

The Federal Highway Administration has recently announced the SMART Grant program. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) established the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) discretionary grant program with $100 million appropriated annually for fiscal years (FY) 2022-2026. The first Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) was announced in the Fall of 2022 for Stage 1 applications. To get a full understanding of the grant structure, and what they are looking for, takes some reading and research. The grant is structured in two stages, Stage 1 and Stage 2. City's, MPO's and the like, have to apply for a Stage 1 grant and get approved before they can move on to a Stage 2 SMART grant. In Stage one, the transportation problem has to be identified and studied to gain a better understanding of the overall transportation need prior to applying for a Stage 2 SMART grant, that would actually fund the larger project. In Stage 1, applicants are encouraged to install proto-type applications and study the results to see if they can be installed in the city on a larger scale. For example, a city could install emergency vehicle preemption equipment at five of the city's thirty traffic signals, study the before and after emergency vehicle response times, and report on the findings. The city would then apply for a Stage 2 grant to install the emergency vehicle equipment on the remaining twenty-five intersections. The Stage 1 grant has two main sections, other than the typical grant requirements. The two main sections are, the project narrative and the summary budget narrative. For the project narrative, only seven pages are allowed to give a project overview, statement of the problem, a description of a possible solution to be studied and what the expected results will be. A detailed work timeline is also required in the seven page document, among other things. The summary budget narrative is more than a budget, it is a detailed description, a narrative, of each budget line item and how it relates to the overall project. It has been my experience, when the FHWA announce the Stage 1 SMART Grant NOFO, the applicant will only have a number of weeks (5 or 6) to get the application in order. This means it is important to start the application process before the NOFO is announced. The FHWA has told us they expect to announce Stage 1 NOFO's in the fall of each year, for the next five years. Traffic Engineering Solutions, PLLC can assist your city, county or MPO with the SMART Grant technical narrative and summary budget narrative. Also, we can assist in the traffic studies that are required to be conducted in a Stage 1 SMART Grant. Thanks and feel free to call if you have any questions. Mark Nichols 870-351-9878