Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit Program — CFDA 20.509

Rural and tribal transit obligations at $3.66 billion

USAspending.gov records $3,655,333,859.48 in obligations under CFDA 20.509. Seven hundred twenty-three awards produce that stock. A simple average is about $5.06 million per award — larger than a typical research grant and consistent with formula transit awards. That average is a quotient of two packet totals, not a typical rural-route operating budget.

The assistance-listing title is FORMULA GRANTS FOR RURAL AREAS AND TRIBAL TRANSIT PROGRAM. CFDA 20.509 is the identifier. Urban formula and bus-capital listings are separate CFDA numbers and are not mixed into the $3.66 billion. Combining those codes would invent a combined transit total this packet does not contain.

195 recipients across 54 states

One hundred ninety-five recipients share 723 awards, or about 3.7 award records per recipient on average. Splitting $3.66 billion evenly would assign about $18.7 million per recipient. That pattern matches a formula portfolio in which a state or designated agency holds several award years or sub-programs. The packet does not list the 195. Recipient count is the organizational headcount, not a census of rural operators or riders.

Fifty-four states in the geographic count show nationwide coding in the USAspending state field. Formula dollars still vary by rural population and tribal service area — factors not in this packet. The state count does not flatten those differences. Place-of-performance amounts are on the program table.

Award count is not a route count

Among transit listings, 20.509 is a mid-volume file: 723 rows against 195 recipients. Annual formula awards and amendments can inflate award count relative to unique systems. Award count is therefore a weak proxy for “number of rural transit systems.” Recipients (195) tell you how many named organizations sit on the extract; awards (723) tell you how many assistance rows were stored.

The packet does not report ridership, route miles, or fleet size. Citing 723 as buses or routes would be a unit error. Keep the units straight: dollars, awards, recipients, states.

Obligations versus transit outlays

The $3.66 billion is an obligation total from USAspending.gov. Outlays — cash paid against rural and tribal transit awards — are not in the packet. A state can show a large obligation stock while local operators draw on a different calendar. Deobligations and upward adjustments both move the total. A remaining-balance question is an outlay question this extract does not answer.

Use CFDA 20.509 to size this rural-and-tribal transit listing in the assistance file. Do not use it as a ridership dashboard. Those series live elsewhere. This page reports the obligation book tagged 20.509.

What the 20.509 tables omit

The Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit hub lists award-backed obligations from USAspending.gov. It is not a route map, not a fleet inventory, and not a ranking of rural access. Series that never appear as assistance awards will not show up in the $3,655,333,859.48. That omission is definitional rather than a gap in the 723 award rows.

Place-of-performance on 54 states is a coding field. A statewide recipient coded to one cell can dominate geography while rural service sits in many counties. Read the program page before treating those cells as equal shares.

Where the 20.509 table lives

The program page overlays these four facts. The all-programs index ranks 20.509 among other assistance listings. Agency pages show awarding-agency rollups that may include this CFDA among other transit listings. For 20.509 only, start on the program page.

CFDA 20.509’s 723 awards spread $3,655,333,859.48 across 195 recipients and 54 states. Quote award count as a record count, recipient count as the organizational headcount, and dollars as obligations from USAspending.gov. About 3.7 award records per recipient is the density story on this listing. Outlays remain a separate column. Source: USAspending.gov assistance awards.

CFDA 20.509 is indexed at $3,655,333,859.48 in obligations, 723 awards, 195 recipients, and 54 states on USAspending.gov. Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit Program should be cited on that CFDA row alone. The $3.66 billion figure sizes the listing in the assistance file. It does not convert obligations into outlays, and it does not convert award count into a service, patient, student, or project census.

Readers who need the overlay tables should start on the program page for CFDA 20.509, then rank the listing on the all-programs index. Agency pages show awarding-agency rollups that may include this CFDA among other listings; they do not replace the $3,655,333,859.48 obligation stock. Keep the four facts together when quoting Formula Grants for Rural Areas and Tribal Transit Program: dollars as obligations from USAspending.gov, award count as a stored-row count, recipient count as the organizational headcount (including 0 when the extract stores none), and the state figure as a geographic coding count.

Questions

How much is obligated for rural and tribal transit formula grants?

USAspending.gov records $3,655,333,859.48 in obligations for CFDA 20.509. SpendingVault indexes 723 awards, 195 recipients, and 54 states. The figure is an obligation sum from assistance awards, not an outlay and not a route count. CFDA 20.509’s $3.66 billion is the USAspending obligation stock.

How many awards does CFDA 20.509 carry?

The listing shows 723 awards against 195 recipients, or about 3.7 award records per recipient. A simple average is about $5.06 million per award. Award count is not a route or ridership count. Recipient dollars are on the program page.

How many organizations receive 20.509 awards?

The extract lists 195 recipients. Those are organizational recipients on assistance awards tagged 20.509. Geographic coding covers 54 states. The packet does not name the 195 or publish fleet inventories. Recipient count is the organizational headcount. CFDA 20.509’s $3.66 billion on 723 awards, with 195 recipients and 54 states in this aggregate, is the USAspending obligation stock.

Is $3.66 billion already spent on rural transit?

Not necessarily. Obligations are commitments. Outlays are payments. CFDA 20.509’s indexed total is the obligation stock from USAspending.gov. This page does not report cash drawn, remaining balances, or ridership. The $3.66 billion on 723 awards is the obligation figure. CFDA 20.509’s $3.66 billion on 723 awards, with 195 recipients and 54 states in this aggregate, is the USAspending obligation stock.