Interdisciplinary Transportation Law and Policy Technology Training Development

The U.S. Department of Transportation, through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, is offering the Interdisciplinary Transportation Law and Policy Technology Training Development funding opportunity under Assistance Listing 20.909, Transportation Research and Technology Advancement. The program will be administered as a cooperative agreement and is intended to bridge the knowledge gap between rapidly changing transportation technologies and policymakers, lawmakers, and legal counsel. Up to $600,000 in Federal funding is available for one competitively selected recipient for a project lasting no more than 24 months. The program will support research, prioritization, curriculum development, training, and evaluation focused on emerging transportation technologies. Areas identified in the notice include artificial intelligence, automated vehicles, and digital infrastructure and technology that enables transportation automation, including cybersecurity. During the first six months, the recipient will research literature, conduct interviews and surveys, identify knowledge gaps, and evaluate the training needs of lawmakers, legal counsel, and policymakers. During the following six months, the recipient will develop a one-day training course, a one-hour Executive Briefing, and a full-semester law school course. The final 12 months will include pilot activities, regional training, a pilot semester with a partner university law school, transfer of materials for future use, evaluation, and a final report. Required deliverables include quarterly technical progress reports, quarterly virtual meetings, annual in-person meetings in Washington, DC, a draft knowledge gaps and needs scan research report, draft materials for listening and peer workshops, draft curricula and instructional materials, and a draft and final report with final training materials. Presentations, instructional materials, and online training videos or aids developed for the specified training courses are to be open source and non-copyrighted. Federal funds may not be used for construction activities or projects. Purchases of equipment with a unit value of $10,000 or more using award or matching resources require advance approval from OST-R after award. Allowability requirements under Federal grant regulations apply to both Federal and matching funds. Eligible applicants are currently DOT-funded University Transportation Centers with capabilities in transportation law, transportation policy, training and technology transfer curriculum development, and relevant science and technology subject matter expertise. The recipient may have a consortium consisting of one or more entities from academia, nonprofit organizations, or for-profit organizations. However, the University Transportation Center must remain the direct and primary recipient of DOT funding, must perform a substantive role in the cooperative agreement, and may not serve primarily as a conduit for awards to another party. Applicants must provide non-Federal matching funds equal to at least 50 percent of total eligible project costs. For a $600,000 Federal award, this means at least $600,000 in non-Federal match and a total project cost of $1.2 million. Matching funds may be cash or in-kind, must support the program objectives and cooperative agreement purpose, and must be documented. Applications must contain both a Technical Proposal and Cost Proposal and must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov. Applicants must have a Unique Entity Identifier, register in the System for Award Management before submission, maintain an active SAM registration as required, and submit through an Authorized Organizational Representative. The Technical Proposal may not exceed 25 pages including the cover page and attachments and must include a proposal summary, program activities, methods and design, schedule and timeline, organizational introduction and relevant experience, key personnel, program partners, monitoring and evaluation plan, and future funding or sustainability discussion. The Cost Proposal must provide task-level costs, Federal and matching sources and uses, required application forms, the latest Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement letter, cost match or share funding sources, and other relevant cost information. Required forms include SF-424, SF-424A, SF-424B when applicable, and SF-LLL. DOT will evaluate the proposing team's qualifications and experience, the scope and clarity of proposed activities, the approach to identifying knowledge gaps and training needs, curriculum and instructional material development, training delivery, evaluation, cost reasonableness, required cost matching, and budget controls. Additional considerations include program quality and feasibility, ability to achieve objectives, organizational capacity and previous federally funded project experience, budget justification, monitoring and evaluation, and partner participation. Matching contributions above the required minimum will be viewed favorably but are less important than the technical proposal and alignment with program objectives. A USDOT subject matter expert review committee will rate eligible applications as highly recommended, recommended, or not recommended, with only highly recommended applications considered for final selection. The opportunity opened June 30, 2026, and applications must be submitted through Grants.gov no later than 11:59 PM EDT on August 28, 2026. Applications are considered complete as initially received, and changes require withdrawal and resubmission of the complete modified application before the deadline. The notice does not identify a recurring application cycle or a specific award notification date. The cooperative agreement performance period is 24 months or less. Questions about the agreement application process may be directed to Project Manager Kelley Severns at Kelley.Severns@dot.gov. The Grants.gov synopsis also provides a telephone number of 202-934-2655.

Demonstrate strong transportation technology, legal, and policy expertise across the proposed team. Clearly explain the approach to identifying knowledge gaps, conducting peer workshops and listening sessions, developing curricula, delivering training, and evaluating success. Provide a reasonable implementation timeline, detailed budget justification, strong budget controls, measurable output and outcome indicators, and clear partner roles. Directly demonstrate how the proposed work will meet DOT objectives and needs. Matching above the required 50 percent may be viewed favorably, but technical quality and alignment with program objectives are more important.