NEW Request for Proposals: Community-Based and Nonprofit Organizations FY26 Pilot
Central Pines Regional Council (CPRC) requests application proposals for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) under its Community-Based and Nonprofit Organizations Pilot program. This pilot program is an initiative within CPRC’s transportation demand management (TDM) grant program named Triangle Transportation Choices.
The Triangle Transportation Choices Program, established in 2007, is a transportation demand management (TDM) grant program administered by CPRC staff that provides funding for traditional (established) local and regional TDM programs, innovative projects, and community-based initiatives to encourage Triangle residents and commuters to use alternative transportation modes, including, but not limited to carpooling, vanpooling, transit, biking, walking, teleworking, flexible work hours, and compressed workweeks.
This Community-Based and Nonprofit Organizations Pilot requests applications from North Carolina-based grassroots-level nonprofits/community-based organizations working with low-income, underserved, marginalized, and/or minority communities to promote safe and affordable access of their communities to alternative commute options in the grant-eligible geographic areas.
Application guidance, including eligible programmatic activities and geographic areas, can be found in the application package (.zip file) linked below. Questions concerning this RFP should be directed to Sean Uyehara at suyehara@centralpinesnc.gov.
SUBMISSION SCHEDULE & KEY DATES:
- Grant Period of Performance – July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026
- RFP Release – December 9, 2024
- Virtual RFP Information Session – December 17, 2024, 1-2 pm ET
- RFP Closes – March 10, 2025, 5 pm ET
- Awards made on a rolling basis
- Read FAQs about the RFP
About The Triangle Transportation Choices Program
Triangle Transportation Choices, a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program, is a marketing and outreach effort to promote alternative transportation modes within a seven-county region of North Carolina including the Triangle. This seven-county region includes all of Wake and Durham counties and specific areas of five other counties - Orange, Chatham, Franklin, Johnston, and Granville. The exact geographic boundaries for the program can be found in the image below on the left hand side.
There are numerous well documented benefits associated with using the alternative transportation modes that encompass Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies. Using transit, carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking or even telecommuting all utilize existing transportation infrastructure, reduce traffic congestion, and improve air quality. Modes such as biking and walking have also been linked with improvements in an individual’s physical and mental health.
The Triangle Transportation Choices program was established in 2007. Since then, its key goal has been to reduce the annual growth in Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT) by 25%. The program has successfully surpassed this goal every single year. Through the program CPRC also hopes to reduce commuter reliance on single-occupancy vehicles, encourage residents to be healthier, reduce transportation cost and be more sustainable. The program historically has been an annual grant aimed at the municipalities, universities, and colleges in the region.
The Triangle Transportation Choices program collaborates with and receives funding from 3 different organizations. Two of the program’s funders are regional Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs). These are the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO). The third funder of the program is the North Carolina Department of Transportation- Integrated Mobility Division (NCDOT-IMD). The graphic on right hand side illustrates the funding and administrative structure of the program. A representative from each of these three funding organizations serves as a voting member in the program’s Oversight Committee (OC).
The OC has two additional members in advisory roles. These represent the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) and Central Pines Regional Council (CPRC). The OC provides overall policy direction and guidance to the grant program, reviews all the grant applications, and makes the final decisions regarding grant awards. All five members of the OC can be found in the graphic on the left.
Thanks in part to the guidance of the OC, a pilot Community-Based and Nonprofit Organizations RFP was released for FY23 for the first time in the history of the program. For FY25-26, a two year RFP was released for the first time ever too. This multi-year RFP is expected to alleviate the administrative burden of annual application on the grantees and provide them with higher level of stability and continuity around grant work.
In FY23, the Oversight Committee (OC) created a separate RFP earmarked for community-based organizations and nonprofits who worked with historically marginalized and systemically disadvantaged groups, including low income and communities of color. In both FY23 and FY24, $200,000 was set aside for this separate RFP, called the Community-Based and Nonprofit Organizations Pilot Initiative. Recognizing that many grassroot-level organizations have limited staff capacity, CPRC and the OC worked to create a simplified grant process and provide one-on-one coaching to applicants. In the first year, 6 organizations were funded a total of $186,111 and the following year, 4 organizations were funded for a total of $152,342. CPRC’s aim is to have this program continue to grow in the upcoming years.
The Triangle Transportation Choice grant program requested proposals for three different funding opportunities for a pilot 2-year RFP covering fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25) and fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26) in Dec 2023. It was the first time ever that the program offered grants for a two-year period of performance. The RFP closed in February, 2024 and awards were announced in mid-May.
A brief overview of these three different RFPs (traditional, innovative projects, and equity & inclusion pilot initiative) can be viewed here.
The award recipients for FY25-26 can be found below.
Arise Collective | Bike Durham | Black Girls Do Bike
City of Durham | City of Raleigh | Commute Friendly NC
Duke University | El Centro Hispano | GoTriangle
Oaks and Spokes | Habitat for Humanity- Orange County
NC Central University | NC State University
Southeast Raleigh Promise | Town of Carrboro | Town of Chapel Hill
Every year in the fall the Triangle Transportation Choices program releases an Annual Impact Report that showcases the many positive effects the program has on the region and its residents. These impacts range from emission reductions to reductions in congestion to improved physical health. During the spring of 2023, CPRC worked with LDA Consulting resulting in an updated, custom-tailored workbook for calculating the annual impact of the program. The updated workbook builds upon the previously established methodology developed by LDA Consulting and calculates the monetary benefits and, for the first time, societal benefits of the program. Some highlights from fiscal year 2023 include 6 million avoided vehicle trips and $34 million in savings due to societal benefits. With the program only costing $1.66 million in FY23, the return on investment was over 20 times the cost!
For more information about the program, please read our latest Annual Impact Report, Executive Summary, and Full Methodology.
TDM’s strength as a strategy is reliant on its continuity between the many different local, state and federal stakeholders. The program seeks to seamlessly links NC state policy and funding with local and regional service providers, while drawing from the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) developed jointly by CAMPO and DCHC MPO for the Triangle region and NCDOTs TDM Strategic Plan to ensure statewide continuity. The program also looks to connect ideas and strategies laid out in the Durham, Wake, and Orange County Transit Plans.
Meet the team that works on this program!
Shuchi Gupta Principal Planner | Sean Uyehara Planner II | Jenna Kolling Senior Program Analyst | Julio Rosado Planner I |
 |  |  | |
| Grant Manager | Grant Administrator | Data Analyst for Program | CFNC Program Coordinator |
| sgupta@centralpinesnc.gov | suyehara@centralpinesnc.gov | jkolling@centralpinesnc.gov | jrosado@centralpinesnc.gov |
If you think your organization would be a good fit for this program, please reach out to Sean Uyehara at suyehara@centralpinesnc.gov.