U.S. Department of Transportation

Funds United States transportation safety and infrastructure modernization through federal programs connecting mobility, logistics, and innovation.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is the federal department responsible for surface transportation, rail, aviation, maritime, and multimodal infrastructure across the United States. The scope here is the Office of the Secretary and its cross-cutting discretionary grant programs, rather than the component agencies that run their own separate notices.

Its named routes include RAISE and BUILD, the Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant Program, Safe Streets and Roads for All, Reconnecting Communities, and DOT SBIR Phase I. They sit inside the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law cycle and reach state and local governments, MPOs, tribal entities, and innovators that can move from concept to deployment quickly.

DOT works through DOT-OST alongside ten component agencies, so applicants need to target the right office and the right notice. The strongest proposals usually arrive with project readiness, a clear public benefit, and a tight fit to safety, mobility, or infrastructure goals, while the SBIR route gives small firms an entry point at up to $200,000 in Phase I.