New Grant Program Available to Local Governments for Car Sharing

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) invites city and county governments and other public agencies within the nine-county Bay Area to apply for grants to help expand car sharing services in their communities. As part of its multi-pronged effort  to meet Plan Bay Area’s targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions, the Commission in April 2014 committed $2 million of federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program funds to provide an expected four or five one-time grants to expand car sharing around the region.

Public agencies eligible to receive federal-aid funding are welcome to apply for car sharing grants on their own, or as the lead agency in partnerships with businesses, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations  or community organizations.  Applicants must provide a local match of at least 11.47 percent of the total project budget, and must be seeking to establish, expand or improve car sharing service in:

  • urban or suburban locations that do not already have robust car sharing options;
  • underserved minority and/or low-income communities;
  • business parks and transit connections; or
  • promote innovative technologies, such as point-to-point car sharing, electric-vehicles, etc.

Evaluation criteria will favor proposals for car sharing projects in the 16 cities taking on two-thirds of the region’s expected housing growth under Plan Bay Area, and in other municipalities taking on a significant amount of growth in the years ahead.  Complete information about the car sharing grant program, including an application, may be found here.

Applications are due by 4:00 p.m., Friday, October 17, 2014. A pre-application workshop will be held on Friday, August, 22, 2014 at 10 a.m. at the MTC offices at 101 Eighth Street in Oakland, across from the Lake Merritt BART Station.