Position your next transportation project to win
A successful transportation grant application starts long before the deadline. It takes the right project, the right funding opportunity, a strong case for investment, and community support to back it up.
Drago Vantage helps public agencies put those winning strategies together. We manage the full grant lifecycle, from identifying and positioning projects for funding through application development to post-award compliance. Our team has helped public agency clients secure hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, with success rates well above industry norms.
More importantly, we assist agencies before a funding opportunity opens, so they are prepared and ready to compete.
Our approach
Our work starts well before the Notice of Funding Opportunity is released. We track upcoming grant cycles and work with clients in advance to prepare their project’s position. We help them refine the scope of work, shape a budget that aligns with funder priorities, and make sure they’re getting valuable input from community engagement to inform the application.
By the time a funding opportunity arises, a compelling narrative is already well on its way. When we reach out for letters of support, no one is surprised by the project, and the more people know about the project ahead of time, the stronger the case for the project becomes.
Four of our wins show our approach in action: the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) award and the Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant, both secured for the Town of Loomis, California; two Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) grant awards for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA’s) BART to Silicon Valley Phase II extension project; and Caltrans District 3's Yolo Interstate 80 Corridor Improvements Project.
Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A)
SS4A is a competitive grant program with $5 billion in appropriated funds spanning 5 years (2022–2026). This program helps regional, local, and tribal governments prevent roadway fatalities and serious injuries. The foundation of the program is a comprehensive Safety Action Plan that functions as a roadmap for reducing deaths and serious injuries on local and regional roads.
We worked closely with the Town of Loomis in fall 2025 to develop an update to its Local Road Safety Plan. In December 2025, the town was awarded $200,000 in funding.
This funding gives Loomis new tools to address emerging safety concerns, such as intersection hotspots and conflicts with pedestrians and bicyclists, while keeping the town in compliance with state and federal safety mandates.
The winning formula for this grant combined a right-sized project, a well-calibrated funding request, and a clear, evidence-based case for the need and benefit of updating this plan.
Drago Vantage helped secure $550,000 in grants for the Town of Loomis.
Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant
For this award, Drago Vantage again partnered with the Town of Loomis, this time to advance a more cohesive and connected transportation network linking historic downtown Loomis to the Town’s northern and eastern neighborhoods. The project focused on Taylor Road and Horseshoe Bar Road corridors to address multimodal access, connectivity, and safety. This work complements the Town’s broader economic development efforts to revitalize its downtown.
Our approach was rooted in persistence. After an unsuccessful application the year before, we used Caltrans’ feedback to revise our approach for the 2025 submittal, including a multi-channel public outreach survey through the Town’s social media to directly address Caltrans’ request for stronger community input. In spring 2026, the Town of Loomis was awarded $350,000.
This funding will help Loomis develop a plan for a more cohesive multimodal network, including improved streetscaping and public realm amenities that support the town’s economic development goals and lay the groundwork for future downtown investment.
VTA SB 1 Grants for BART to Silicon Valley Phase II (BSVII)
The long-term vision for the Bay Area’s commuter rail network is to ring the Bay with electrified rail, significantly enhancing transit and rail mobility and connectivity across the region. The BSVII project will extend BART six miles into downtown San Jose and the City of Santa Clara, including an approximately five-mile tunnel and four new stations. The three stations in the City of San Jose will be underground, including one at Diridon Station, the South Bay’s central rail and transit hub.
The BSVII project will extend BART six miles into downtown San Jose and the City of Santa Clara, including an approximately five-mile tunnel and four new stations.
The Drago Vantage team wrote two winning SB 1 grant applications for the BSVII Project, significantly contributing to closing the project’s remaining funding gap. VTA was awarded $100 million in total, with $25 million from the 2024 Local Partnership Program (LPP) and $75 million from the 2024 Solutions for Congested Corridors Program (SCCP). The application we wrote for VTA was the state's highest-ranked SCCP application for that cycle.
Yolo Interstate 80 Corridor Improvements Project
This project, a collaboration between Caltrans District 3 and Yolo Transportation District (Yolo TD), aims to reduce congestion on a portion of I-80 between Davis and Sacramento by adding a dynamically tolled express lane.
In 2021, Yolo TD was awarded an $86 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding America federal grant for Caltrans to add managed lanes across the Yolo Causeway. In 2023, Drago Vantage was hired to work with Caltrans and Yolo TD in developing a memorandum of understanding between the two entities. Drago Vantage then went on to write a grant application which resulted in a $105 million Trade Corridors Enhancement Project award in 2024. This award marked a significant milestone in the I-80 project, with construction on the new lane being completed in fall 2025, with tolling expected to begin in 2028.
This project aims to reduce congestion on a portion of I-80 between Davis and Sacramento by adding a dynamically tolled express lane.
Let’s find the funding for your next project
Have a transportation project that needs funding, or an idea that is not quite grant-ready yet? Talk with us early. We can help identify the right funding opportunities, assess how competitive your project is and strengthen its position before the next grant cycle opens.
Contact sabrina.drago@dragovantage.com for a conversation.