OCTC allocates transportation funding from a variety of federal highway and transit programs that support our regional, county, and local transportation needs. These federal programs provide funding for a variety of transportation projects such as replacing a bridge, reconstructing a road, building a new sidewalk, or purchasing a new transit vehicle.

Federal Highway Funding

The Federal-Aid Highway Program supports State highway systems by providing financial assistance for the construction, maintenance and operations of the Nation’s 3.9 million-mile highway network, including the Interstate Highway System, primary highways and secondary local roads. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is charged with implementing the Federal-aid Highway Program in cooperation with the States and local government. 

For more information visit FHWA’s webpage.

Federal Transit Funding

The Federal Transit Authority (FTA) provides grants to local public transit systems, including buses, subways, light rail, commuter rail, trolleys and ferries. Since 1964, FTA has partnered with state and local governments to create and enhance public transportation systems, investing more than $13 billion annually to support and expand public transit services. FTA provides annual formula grants to transit agencies nationwide as well as discretionary funding in competitive processes. 

For more information visit FTA’s webpage.

Highway Functional Classification

In order to receive federal transportation funding, a road or related facility must be “federal-aid eligible.” Federal-aid eligibility is based on the functional classification of a road. Functional classification groups roads into classes according to their character and role in the road network. This hierarchy ranges from roads for long interstate trips (Interstates) to roads providing access to individual properties (local roads). In between are Arterials, which provide limited access to adjacent land, and Collectors, which collect traffic from local roads and connect it to Arterials. Roads are further classified as either urban or rural based on where they are located.