The U.S. DOT's Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently launched a new Human Trafficking Awareness and Public Safety Initiative.
The initiative includes two Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) totaling $4 million to prevent human trafficking and other crimes that may occur on buses, trains and other forms of public transportation.
The agency notes that human traffickers use several modes of transportation to conduct their activities, often using public transit due to the lower cost, greater anonymity in buying fare cards, and less direct interaction with government or transit officials.
The FTA published two NOFOs, each with $2 million in competitive funding. The application submission deadline for both is May 28, 2019.
The goal of the Innovations in Transit Public Safety NOFO is to develop projects that assist transit agencies with identifying and adopting specific measures to address public safety in transit systems, including crime prevention, human trafficking, and operator assault. Eligible applicants for awards are limited to state and local governmental entities; providers of public transportation; non-profit organizations; or a consortium of entities, including a provider of public transportation that will share the costs, risks, and rewards of early deployment and demonstration of innovation.
The Crime Prevention and Public Safety Awareness NOFO has the goal of developing and disseminating materials supporting public safety awareness campaigns for transit systems, including crime prevention, human trafficking and operator assault. Eligible applicants for awards are national non-profit organizations. Organizations must have crime prevention experience, the capacity to provide public transportation-related technical assistance and the ability to deliver a national public awareness campaign.
The FTA Human Trafficking Awareness and Public Safety Initiative builds upon the department’s work with transportation stakeholders across all modes of transportation to prevent human trafficking.
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Source: Federal Transit Administration
