What USDOT Has Been Up to in Its Most Popular Grant Programs
A combined look at the 2023 cycle: RAISE stayed brutally competitive and roads-first — maritime and airport projects won just four awards — while PIDP's Small Port/Project carve-out delivered real wins for smaller and inland facilities.
Our combined look at the 2023 USDOT grant cycle covers both the RAISE and PIDP programs. RAISE stayed heavily oversubscribed (~6.5x) with a sub-15% success rate, and roads-and-transit work continued to dominate — maritime and airport projects won just four awards. PIDP remained popular among ports (153 applications, ~27% success), with a Small Port/Project carve-out delivering strong results for smaller and inland facilities. Across both programs, equity criteria and construction-ready capital projects were rewarded. Looking ahead, USDOT signaled 2024 would look a lot like 2023 — same criteria, same $1.5B funding levels, same statutory NOFO deadline.
Key takeaways
- RAISE stayed brutally competitive: oversubscription of ~6.5x and a success rate under 15% (falling below 9% across the 15-year history of RAISE and its predecessors).
- Roads dominate RAISE: road, transit, and bike-pedestrian projects accounted for ~95% of awards; maritime and airport projects won just 4 (only 67 of ~1,100 applications came from those categories).
- Equity remained central: 70% of RAISE awards landed in areas of persistent poverty (APP) or historically-disadvantaged communities (HDC).
- PIDP rewarded smaller ports: a Small Port/Project carve-out produced 26 awards (almost half of all 2023 PIDP awards) totaling $172,876,328; inland ports won 8 awards (~20%) and ~$63M.
- Construction is king: capital (construction) grants continued to be heavily favored — ~70% under RAISE and over 90% under PIDP.
2023 RAISE results
A caveat first: USDOT provides only so much information and no more. It’s consistent with the data it releases on applications and awards, but the finer details — the intended private beneficiaries, if any — are often tough to discern, and many applications themselves aren’t made public. With that in mind:
- RAISE remained very popular, with an oversubscription rate of ~6.5x and an application success rate under 15% (falling under 9% across the 15 years RAISE and its predecessors have existed).
- Of the Top 10 awarded states, 4 (Washington, California, Texas, and Illinois) were also Top 10 in 2022 — to some extent, the rich keep getting richer.
- Road, transit, and bike-pedestrian projects accounted for ~95% of awards; maritime and airport projects fared poorly, winning just 4. The good news is those applicants seem to have gotten the word — just 67 of the ~1,100 applications came from those categories.
- Capital grants (for construction) continued to be heavily favored — almost 70% this round (down slightly from ~73% the prior year).
- 70% of grant awards landed in areas of persistent poverty (APP) or historically-disadvantaged communities (HDC).
- Roughly 27% of all grants (accounting for ~44% of total available funds) went to ports to “create, expand, and improve truck access.” Favoring road and rail improvements as part of a port project has a long history under PIDP, so the result isn’t shocking — but the scale of the investment is noteworthy.
- Planning for 2024: USDOT advised little would change from the 2023 NOFO — same merit and technical components, same APP/HDC focus, same initial $1.5B funding levels — and committed to issue the 2024 NOFO by the statutory November 30 deadline. Much could shift if USDOT follows through on its soft commitment to push the last two BIL-funded rounds out in one cycle; if so, a HUGE sprint is coming as applicants look to sop up the last of the expanded funding.
2023 PIDP results
Same data caveat applies. To the numbers:
- PIDP remained very popular among ports, with 153 applications this cycle, an oversubscription rate of ~4.3x, and an application success rate approaching 27%.
- Of the Top 10 awarded states, California, Alaska, and Washington were #1–3 in both 2023 and 2022. The “rich get richer” read is moderated by the fact that not every state has eligible entities in this program — and dollars awarded to these states were about 25% lower than the prior year.
- The Small Port/Project carve-out yielded strong results: 26 projects (almost half of all 2023 awards) receiving grants totaling $172,876,328 — slightly more than the required 25% of available funding.
- Inland ports did well this round, in no small part due to the carve-out, winning 8 awards (~20% of all awards) and ~$63M (about 10% of all dollars).
- Capital grants (for construction) continued to dominate — over 90% this round, up a bit from 2022.
- Energy-related successes ebbed: just 3 wind-related projects received awards (~8%), compared to 9 in 2022.
A win worth noting
Some good news up the Missouri River: our friends and clients at NEW Cooperative received a $10M PIDP award from MARAD — and a special shoutout to the team that slogged through the application process to land it.
Related reading
This is policy and market intelligence, not legal advice. Thinking about a federal grant? Talk to us about your project →