Grant Management Branch:                            Sustainable Transportation Planning Grants

The Grant Management Branch administers the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grants within the Headquarters Division of Transportation Planning. The Sustainable Transportation Planning Grants are comprised of the following four grant categories - Sustainable Communities (Competitive & Formula), Strategic Partnerships and Strategic Partnerships - Transit - which award a total of approximately $34.9 million (State and federal funding) annually to local and regional planning agencies, cities, counties, transit agencies, and Native American Tribal Governments.

Caltrans Announces the FY 2026-27 Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Awards 

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is pleased to announce the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026-27 Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Awards. A total of 170 applications were received with requests totaling approximately $74.7 million. Of these applications, 58 are being awarded, totaling approximately $23.6 million. In addition, Metropolitan Planning Organizations will receive $12.5 million in Sustainable Communities Formula grants to further their Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy.

The grant award and non-award lists are posted below. Grant applicants are encouraged to contact Caltrans district staff to request feedback on unsuccessful applications and receive technical assistance with application development for the next call-for-applications. See the schedule below for more information.

• FY 2026-27 Award List
• FY 2026-27 Non-Award List
• FY 2026-27 Grant Application Guide (PDF)

FY 2026-27 Application Forms and Templates

• Application Checklist (PDF)
• Application Cover Sheet (DOCX)
• Application Signature Page (PDF)
• Scope of Work Checklist and Template (DOCX)
• Cost & Schedule Checklist and Template (XLSX)
• Third Party In-Kind Valuation Plan Checklist and Template (XLSX)

Accessibility Assistance: Caltrans makes every attempt to ensure our documents are accessible. Due to variances between assistive technologies, there may be portions of this document which are not accessible. Where documents cannot be made accessible, we are committed to providing alternative access to the content. Should you need additional assistance, please contact us at (916) 654-2852 or Regional Planning at regional.planning.grants@dot.ca.gov or visit https://dot.ca.gov/request-ada-compliant-documents. 

FY 2027-28 Grant Information

The FY 2027-28 Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant funding availability and tentative schedule information are outlined below. Applicants are encouraged to visit the California Grants Portal and subscribe to receive notifications about State funding opportunities.

The Sustainable Transportation Planning Grants include:

Sustainable Communities Grants (approximately $30.4 million) to encourage local and regional planning that supports state goals, implements Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS) (where applicable), and to ultimately achieve the State's greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 40 and 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 2045, respectively.

Strategic Partnerships Grants ($4.5 million) to identify and address regional, interregional, or statewide transportation deficiencies on the State Highway System in partnership with Caltrans. A sub-category funds transit-focused planning projects that address multimodal transportation deficiencies.

• August 2026 - Release FY 2027-28 Grant Application Guide/Call for Applications for a minimum of eight weeks and conduct grant application workshops
• October 2026 - Anticipated grant application deadline
• Winter 2026-Spring 2027 - Application evaluation and management approval of grant recommendations
• Spring 2027 - Grant announcements
• Summer 2027 - Grant recipients begin project activities
• June 2030 - Grant projects are completed and grant funds expire