2023 5310 Application Announcement

(CLOSED) Application Deadline noon Friday, February 3, 2023.

Under the Section 5310 program, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) provides federal funds for activities including the purchase of equipment to support transportation services for the elderly and people with disabilities where existing transportation is unavailable, inappropriate or insufficient. The FTA provides 80 percent of the cost of capital items; the remaining 20 percent must be provided by local funding, which may include funding from other federal programs other than U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) programs or from DOT’s Federal Office of Lands Highway program.

OKI, as the designated recipient of the Section 5310 federal funds in the Cincinnati urbanized area, is responsible for managing the program for agencies located in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties in Southwest Ohio; Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties in Northern Kentucky and Dearborn County in Southeast Indiana.

Private nonprofit (501(c) (3)) corporations, public bodies identified by their state as lead agencies in a coordination project, or public bodies which certify that no private nonprofit corporations exist within their jurisdiction for the provision of elderly and disabled transportation are eligible to apply for Section 5310 federal funds.

For more information, please contact Travis Miller at tmiller@oki.org.

Information and attachments to prepare before going to the online form:

You must have all your information ready and completed attachments to upload before you intend to fill out the application. You will not be able to save in progress once you start filling out the online form.

1) Review the information requested on the online application form.  View the Sample Application.

2) Download attachments, fill out, and name your attachment files with your agency name first then the attachment name. For example “Your Agency Name-Attachment A”

4) Start the online application and upload your completed attachments within the form where indicated.

Questions? Contact Travis Miller.

OKI Section 5310 Program

Goal—Improve mobility for seniors and individuals with disabilities by removing barriers to transportation services and expanding transportation options.

Increased mobility to and from:

  • Employment
  • Medical appointments
  • Grocery shopping
  • Educational opportunities

Applicants must be listed in the OKI Coordinated Public Transit – Human Services Transportation Plan

Oversight Team

  • Butler County Regional Transit Authority
  • Clermont Senior Services
  • Clermont Transportation Connection
  • home52 Transportation
  • Lifetime Resources – Catch-A-Ride
  • Northern Kentucky Area Development District
  • SORTA
  • TANK
  • Warren County Transit Services

Eligible Applicants

    1. A private nonprofit organization
    2. State or local governmental authority that:

Is approved by a state to coordinate services for seniors and individuals with disabilities; or

Certifies that there are no nonprofit organizations readily available in the area to provide the service.

Eligible Activities

Traditional Section 5310 (at least 55%) project examples include:

  • buses and vans and related activities (maintenance, lifts, ramps)
  • passenger facilities – benches, shelters
  • mobility management programs
  • acquisition of transportation services under a contract, lease, or other arrangement

Nontraditional Section 5310 (up to 45%) project examples include:

  • travel training and volunteer driver programs
  • building an accessible path to a bus stop, including curb-cuts, sidewalks, accessible pedestrian signals or other accessible features
  • improving signage, or way-finding technology
  • incremental cost of providing same day service or door-to-door service
  • purchasing vehicles to support new accessible taxi, ride sharing and/or vanpooling programs

Available Funding – 2023

  • Funding—Under FAST ACT, apportionments are provided to large and small urbanized areas and rural areas.
  • Funding Amount for Cincinnati Urbanized Area:
    • FY 2022 Funds Available for Projects* $473,047
    • FY 2022 Funds Available for Projects TBA
    • Total Projected Available ~$2,500,000

* net amount remaining from prior year awards

2022-23 Award Timeline

December 5, 2022Section 5310 Workshop
Noon, February 3, 2023Applications Due to OKI
March 2023OKI Oversight Team review
April-May 2023OKI ICC Review and Executive Committee Action
May-June 2023FTA Review and Approval
July-August 2023Projects Awarded in FTA Grant
Fall 2023Sub-recipient Agreements Executed

Evaluation Criteria

Criteria Points Available
Filling Gaps in service to target populations 0-15
Undertaking Coordinated Plan strategies 0-15
How well your project serves the target populations 0-15
Coordinated efforts to eliminate/reduce duplication in services 0-25
Project sustainability and steps taken to ensure its success 0-15
Quantification of anticipated benefits 0-15
Use of technology bonus 0-5
The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) Program Management Plan (PMP) describes the policies and procedures for administering the Section 5310 federal program in the Cincinnati urbanized area (UZA). OKI, as the designated recipient, maintains this PMP to facilitate both recipient management and FTA oversight as required by FTA Circular 9070.1G Chapter VII. This PMP for the OKI Section 5310 Program includes program objectives, policies, procedures, and administrative requirements in a form accessible to potential subrecipients, recipient staff, FTA, and the public.