Call for Projects
Grants
2026 Call for Projects
Due to recent changes to the funding policy for the Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) and uncertainty around the continuation of the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program and Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) in the next federal transportation bill, there was only a call for projects for the Transportation Alternatives (TA) program in 2026.
For the 2026 grant cycle, $1,455,053 was available for the Transportation Alternatives funding to be programmed in the 2027-2030 TIP. This also included $300,000 in Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds for the MPO region. RTC’s policy limited the maximum request amount to 60% of the funding available by program area. A 13.5% match was required for TA applications and toll credits could be used for the local match.
The following was the annual funding limit for the Transportation Alternatives program by program area:
| Year Funds Programmed | Urban Large Clark County |
Rural Clark County, La Center |
Urban Small Bingen, Ridgefield, White Salmon |
Rural Klickitat and Skamania Counties |
| 2030 | $780,854 | $340,100 | $272,780 | $340,100 |
Eligible Applicants
All projects must be administered by a certification acceptance agency. Non certification acceptance agencies can apply for funding but must have a certification acceptance agency sponsor the project. The sponsorship must be in place prior to applying for funds. Eligible applicants include:
-
- Local Governments
- Regional Transportation Authorities
- Transit Agencies
- Natural Resources or Public Land Agencies
- School Districts, Local Education Agencies, or Schools
- Tribal Governments
- Any other local or regional governmental entity with responsibility for oversight of transportation or recreational trails (other than MPOs or State agency) that the State determines to be eligible (includes Ports if they own the facility and it is open to the public)
Process Timeline
The project selection timeline for 2026 grant process was as follows:
- Call for Projects
- Wednesday, April 8
- Grant Qualification Review Due
- Thursday, July 2
- Project Applications Due
- Friday, July 10
- Staff Grant Evaluation Review
- July 13 – July 31
- Agency Evaluation Review
- August 3-7
- Projects Entered in STIP
- Thursday, August 20
- RTAC Recommends Grant Awards
- Friday, August 21
- Prepare Draft TIP
- August – September
- RTC Board Approves Grant Awards
- Tuesday, September 1
- RTAC Recommends Adoption of TIP
- Friday, September 18
- RTC Board Adoption of TIP
- Tuesday, October 6
Downloads
STBG/CMAQ/CRP Application (PDF, 2MB)
Rural STBG Application (PDF, 255KB)
TA Application (PDF, 1MB
Accident Analysis (XLS, 154KB)
Urban Area Map (PDF, 762KB)
STBG/CMAQ/CRP Selection Criteria (PDF, 216KB)
TA Evaluation Criteria (PDF, 154KB)
TA Evaluation Criteria Details (PDF, 164KB)
Transportation Programming Guidebook (PDF, 2MB)