Assistance Listing 20.531
Technical Assistance and Workforce Development
Federal Transit Administration · Department of Transportation
The verdict for a small nonprofit
A realistic target for an established nonprofit. 15% of awards go to first-time applicants and nonprofits win 64%.
Based on 13 new awards in FY2023–25. Organizations under $1M in revenue won 0% of the awards that went to nonprofits. The median award is $4,411,161. Expect about 62 days between posting and deadline.
- First-time winners
- 15%
- of new awards, last 3 FYs
- Nonprofit share
- 64%
- 15% higher ed · 0% gov't
- Under-$1M orgs
- 0%
- of nonprofit awards
- Median award
- $4.4M
- $3.3M – $5.6M middle half
- New awards, FY2025
- 2
- $8.8M committed to them
- Usually posts
- Jul
- irregular · 62-day window
Open right now under this program
Nothing open · from Grants.gov, checked every 10 minutes
Who won in FY2025
Largest recipients by dollars. From USAspending.
| Recipient | Type | State | Awards | Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Transportation Association of America | Nonprofit | DC | 9 | $16,430,244 |
| Rutgers, the State University | Higher ed | NJ | 5 | $28,294,618 |
| National Academy of Sciences | Nonprofit | DC | 5 | $1,188,709 |
| Easter Seals, INC. | Nonprofit | IL | 4 | $9,453,527 |
| Operation Lifesaver, INC | Business | DC | 3 | $1,200,000 |
| International Transportation Learning Center | Nonprofit | MD | 1 | $15,000,000 |
| American Public Transportation Association | Nonprofit | DC | 1 | $2,974,430 |
| Protect All Children from Trafficking, INC. | Other | NY | 1 | $1,639,498 |
| Inventev LLC | Business | MI | 1 | $992,597 |
| Calstart, INC. | Nonprofit | CA | 1 | $475,954 |
New awards by fiscal year
Awards first made in each fiscal year; dollars are the total committed to that year's new awards over their life.
| FY | New awards | Committed | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | $30M | $1.6M | $388K – $1.9M |
| 2022 | 9 | $18M | $1.5M | $476K – $2.5M |
| 2023 | 5 | $18M | $3.0M | $2.5M – $3.2M |
| 2024 | 6 | $3.6M | $225K | $50K – $475K |
| 2025 | 2 | $8.8M | $4.4M | $3.3M – $5.6M |
Past rounds
Every announcement under this listing that Grants.gov still lists. Use it to plan next year.
| Posted | Closed | Window | Announcement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-07-01 | 2024-08-30 | 60 d | FTA-2024-011-TPM-CCAM · FY 2024 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) National Technical Assistance Center |
| 2022-11-22 | 2023-02-06 | 76 d | FTA-2023-004-TRI · FY 2023 Transit Standards Development Program |
| 2022-04-12 | 2022-06-13 | 62 d | FTA-2022-005-TRI-SDBEPS · FY21 Standards Development for Bus Exportable Power Systems |
| 2021-08-13 | 2021-10-12 | 60 d | FTA-2021-011-TRI-R2P · FY 2021 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Research to Practice (R2P) Program |
| 2021-04-09 | 2021-05-10 | 31 d | FTA-2021-002-TRI-WD · FY 2021 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Transit Workforce Center (TWC) |
| 2020-06-03 | 2020-07-02 | 29 d | FTA-2020-009-NADTC · Solicitation of proposals to administer the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (NADTC) |
| 2019-07-24 | 2019-08-09 | 16 d | FTA-2019-011-RSUTAT · Rural and Small Urban Transit Applied Technology Technical Assistance Center |
| 2019-03-29 | 2019-05-28 | 60 d | FTA-2019-007-TSO · Crime Prevention and Public Safety Awareness |
| 2018-08-28 | 2018-10-05 | 38 d | FTA-2018-005-TPM-NCMM · Solicitation of Project Proposals for the National Center for Mobility Management |
Common questions
How hard is it to win a grant under 20.531?
A realistic target for an established nonprofit. 15% of awards go to first-time applicants and nonprofits win 64%. Based on 13 new awards in FY2023–25. Organizations under $1M in revenue won 0% of the awards that went to nonprofits. The median award is $4,411,161. Expect about 62 days between posting and deadline.
How much does Technical Assistance and Workforce Development award?
In FY2025 the median new award was $4.4M; the middle half ran from $3.3M to $5.6M. 2 new awards were made, with $8.8M committed to them.
When does 20.531 usually post?
Over the last several years, new rounds most often posted in Jul with about 62 days to apply. The most recent round posted Jul 1, 2024.
Who runs this program?
Department of Transportation (Federal Transit Administration). Assistance Listing 20.531 on SAM.gov describes the authorizing statute and standard terms.
Sources: USAspending FY2021–25 award archive (2026-10-06); Grants.gov Search2 (fetched 2026-10-28); IRS EO BMF (fetched 2026-10-28). Award counts are new awards by fiscal year of first action. Shares are computed from award counts, not dollars; the under-$1M share covers the 89% of nonprofit awards that matched an IRS revenue record. Recipient type comes from the award record's business-type codes. Always confirm details in the official announcement.