US Public Funding Guidance Update: Making the Most of Federal Funding to Support Shared Micromobility

The passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) in 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022 increased funding levels in existing federal programs that support shared micromobility, and created new federal funding programs that can be used toward shared micromobility. NABSA has continued to provide resources, such as our publicly-available US Funding Resource Page and funding resources in our Advocacy Toolkit, to help members and stakeholders understand what federal funding programs are available and how these programs can be applied to support shared micromobility in communities.

As more cities, MPOs, and states have sought to utilize these new funding opportunities, they have encountered Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements. The BABA program, formerly known as Buy America, mandates the use of American-made materials in federally funded infrastructure projects including programs used to fund shared micromobility equipment. When agencies are seeking to use federal funds to support shared micromobility, they may encounter BABA requirements as a condition of the use of the funds.

Many shared micromobility systems in the United States have been operational for more than a decade, fueling a surge in active and sustainable transportation. These systems have built a global supply chain and have optimized a manufacturing and supplier strategy to meet the demand for shared micromobility capital needs. Given the unique challenges of shared micromobility components, meeting the BABA requirement of 55% US-made components at present could increase production costs by up to 80% or is entirely unavailable. Waivers have been granted in the past for shared micromobility projects using federal funds.

Building off of the federal funding resources that NABSA offers, we have created guidance to inform agencies on the process that has been used to apply federal funding to shared micromobility projects.