The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity for $1.5 billion in grant funding through the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) discretionary grant program. The goal of the BUILD program is to fund eligible surface transportation projects that will have a significant local or regional impact.
Determining the costs, benefits, and positive impacts of large infrastructure projects requires rigorous data-driven analyses. ESI provides BUILD grant applicants with the right support for submitting accurate, convincing, and competitive grant applications. We work with clients to show the economic, transportation, social, and environmental impacts of their projects to achieve the desired outcomes of the BUILD program. Key services include:
- Benefit-cost analyses;
- Third-party review and analysis of applications prior to submission;
- Full preparation of an application package.
ESI has helped prepare numerous infrastructure funding applications, including FASTLANE (now INFRA) and BUILD (formerly RAISE or TIGER) applications for a variety of clients:
- Full application and submission for the Wilmington Riverfront Transportation Infrastructure Project ($17 million awarded).
- Port Authority Transit Corporation Speedline (PATCO), Franklin Square Station ($12.6 million awarded).
- Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), 30th Street Market-Frankford Station Renovation ($15 million awarded).
- DRBA (Delaware River & Bay Authority), Delaware Memorial Bridge Protection ($22 million awarded).
- Bronx River Greenway in New York City, NY ($10 million awarded).
- Center City Philadelphia Dilworth Plaza, PA ($15 million awarded).
- SEPTA CSX Separation Project in Bucks County, PA ($10 million awarded).
- Waterbury Naugatuck River Greenway Phase 1, CT ($10 million awarded).
Program Highlights
- Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov.
- BUILD grant awards are capped at $25 million.
- The minimum award size is $1 million for rural capital projects and $5 million for urban capital projects, with no minimum for planning projects.
- As of July 2025, the program has awarded more than $16 billion over sixteen rounds to local governments, Tribes, transit and port authorities, states, and other entities for capital and planning projects that improve safety, mobile and community connectivity, economic competitiveness, and innovation.
For assistance, please contact:
Peter Angelides, Ph.D., AICP
President & Principal
[email protected]
Ian Bowen
Director
[email protected]