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New Freedom Program is sponsored by Department of Transportation. The New Freedom program (Section 5317) provided grants for new capital and operating projects aimed at reducing, beyond the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, transportation barriers faced by individuals with disabilities to expand mobility through transportation, including transportation to and from jobs and employment support services.
The New Freedom Program was repealed under MAP-21; however, New Freedom type projects are eligible for funding under the new Section 5310 Program (Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program – Circular FTA C 9070. 1H; Assistance Listing 20. 536) This listing is currently active.
Program number: 20. 521. Last updated on 2025-12-09.
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Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: The chief executive officer of each State or an official designee must designate a public entity to be the recipient for New Freedom funds. In urbanized areas with populations less than 200,000 and in non-urbanized areas, the State is the designated recipient. For these areas, the chief executive officer of a State designates a State agency responsible for administering the New Freedom Program, and officially notifies the appropriate Federal Transit Administration (FTA) regional office in writing of that designation. The chief executive officer of a State may designate the State agency that receives Other Than Urbanized Area (Non-urbanized Area, Section 5311) and/or the Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities (Section 5310) Program funds to be the New Freedom recipient, or the chief executive officer of a State may designate a different agency. In urbanized areas over 200,000 in population, the recipient charged with administering the New Freedom Program must be officially designated through a process consistent with 49 U.S.C. 5307(a)(2): an entity designated in accordance with the planning process under Sections 5303, 5304, and 5306, by the chief executive officer of a State, responsible local officials, and publicly owned operators of public transportation, to receive and apportion amounts under Section 5336 that are attributable to transportation management areas identified under Section 5303. Eligible applicant types include: Other Local Government Consortium, Regional Organization (Intrastate), or Other Local Government Combination, U.S. State Government (including the District of Columbia), Federally Recognized Indian/Native American/Alaska Native Tribal Government, Transit Authority, Nonprofit Organization. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
Yes — New Freedom Program is offered by Department of Transportation and this listing comes from SAM.gov, an official U.S. federal source. Federal applications generally require registrations (for example SAM.gov or an agency submission portal), so allow extra lead time.
This opportunity targets applicants in Alaska and District of Columbia. Check the official notice for exact location requirements.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
Past winners and funding trends for this program
The Department of Defense FY2026 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) provides funding for U.S. universities to acquire research equipment and instrumentation in areas important to national defense, including AI and machine learning hardware. The program is administered jointly by the Army Research Office (ARO), Office of Naval Research (ONR), and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), with approximately $34 million available and 95 awards anticipated. DURIP funds the acquisition of specialized computing hardware for AI/ML research (GPU clusters, TPUs, neuromorphic processors), robotics and autonomous systems testbeds, sensor arrays and data collection systems for machine learning training, high-performance computing infrastructure for defense-relevant AI research, and laboratory equipment for human-AI interaction studies. The program specifically supports equipment that enhances research-related education in DoD-priority disciplines. While general-purpose computing is not eligible, computing equipment directly supporting DoD-relevant AI research programs qualifies. No cost sharing is required.
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