APTA Announces 2026 Local Coalition Grant Recipients

APTA’s Local Coalition Grant Program provides grants to grassroots organizations that help their communities promote, protect, and expand public transportation service. The 13 2026 recipients each received $10,000 for their initiative.  

Recipients and initiatives are as follows: 

DC Transportation Equity Network (Washington, DC): Collect and publish personal narratives on the “transportation time tax” to advocate for improved transit equity.  

Denver Streets Partnership (Denver, CO): Host a 10-week Advocacy Academy to equip community members with the tools, knowledge, and relationships to advocate effectively for their communities. Participants will learn how local decision-making works and how to advocate through tesimony, media, and direct outreach. 

Genesis Interfaith Organizing (Oakland, CA): Collect signatures and engage in voter outreach around the Connect Bay Area ballot measure initiative, as well as hold community dialogue events on the regional measure and other ways to advocate for transit funding. 

Greenville Connects (Greenville, SC): Launch a public information campaign in support of an upcoming penny tax referendum that will generate transit funding necessary to increase transit frequency across Greenville and expand service into unserved areas.  

Movability (Austin, TX): Host 10 mobility camps aimed at college freshmen, senior citizens, the general public, and employer groups to increase transit ridership in Central Texas. Camp participants gain direct, hands-on experience getting to and from a destination without needing to drive, in a low-stress, fun environment as a group. 

Reconnect Rochester (Rochester, NY): Support state-level advocacy efforts calling for capital funding investments and dedicated revenue sources for upstate New York transit systems, working in partnership with transit authorities, statewide coalition groups, transit riders, community partners, and legislators. 

Ride New Orleans (New Orleans, LA): Bring together a broad cross-section of New Orleans residents to translate the need for BRT and other transit improvements to the broader community and build a wider base of public support. 

St. Louis Metropolitan Alliance for Reliable Transit/Paraquad, Inc. (St. Louis, MO): Engage the community in advocacy around increasing transit service frequency and coverage in underserved areas as well as advocate for transit and paratransit accessibility measures. 

Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee (Nashville, TN): Launch a mobility academy pilot program to engage local advocates as active regional transit ambassadors. The project will strengthen a regional base of informed advocates who can elevate the business case for transit, support safer access, and advance future mobility and funding discussions. 

Transit Alliance Miami (Miami, FL): Build and activate a broad coalition of voices around the argument that public transit investment is crucial to economic vitality. The coalition will activate participants to give public testimony and interact with lawmakers. 

Transit Forward Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA): Advocate to ensure public transit is fully funded in the 2027 state budget cycle and support a City Charter amendment to provide dedicated local funding for affordable fares. 

Transportation for Maine (Portland, ME): Launch a new coalition to organize grassroots advocacy for public transportation funding across the state.  

Transportation Riders United (Detroit, MI): Build public support for a county-wide ballot measure in August 2026, reaching out to county stakeholders like chambers of commerce, major employers, and community associations for support.