Transportation money is the largest pot of funding a small destination organization will ever get near, and it is almost entirely capital money. Concrete, asphalt, sign posts, trail tread. A digital wayfinding layer is fundable inside these programs, but essentially never as the request itself.

There is one exception, and it is written into federal statute. It is also the least reliably funded program in this article. Both of those things are true and you should know them before you spend a week on an application.

Every figure and quoted phrase below comes from the program's own materials, cited at the end. Status notes are current as of August 20, 2026.

One framing note first. DestinationHub is a software subscription. In these programs it is the interpretive and navigational content layer on physical infrastructure. Pair it with a physical scope or expect a rejection.

Are You Eligible?

If you are a...

• Municipality or county, look at TA Set-Aside, Scenic Byways
• Parks or recreation department, look at Recreational Trails Program
• Trail or friends group (501c3), look at Recreational Trails Program, via your state
• Byway organization, look at Scenic Byways, TA Set-Aside
• DMO or Main Street organization - consider yourself a partner, not the applicant
• MPO or regional planning body, TA Set-Aside

Note the pattern: with the partial exception of RTP, the applicant is generally a government entity. If you are a nonprofit, your route into this money usually runs through your city or your state agency. Start there rather than at FHWA.

Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside — FHWA

Administered by FHWA and passed through your state DOT or MPO.¹

**Eligible activity categories, verbatim:**¹

• "on- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities"
• "infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility"
• "community improvement activities such as historic preservation and vegetation management"
• "environmental mitigation related to stormwater and habitat connectivity"
• Recreational trail projects
• Safe routes to school projects
• "projects for planning, designing, or constructing boulevards and other roadways largely in the right-of-way of former divided highways"

Caution. This is predominantly a capital and construction program. Digital wayfinding is defensible only as the content layer on a physical scope — a trail segment, a signage and kiosk package, a streetscape or overlook project. States set their own application rules within the federal categories, so confirm with your state DOT's TA coordinator before budgeting anything.

National Scenic Byways Program — 23 U.S.C. § 162

This is the strongest statutory fit for a digital interpretive platform anywhere in transportation funding. The eligible-project list in statute includes, verbatim:

• § 162(c)(7): "Development and provision of tourist information to the public, including interpretive information about a scenic byway."²
• § 162(c)(8): "Development and implementation of a scenic byway marketing program."²
• § 162(c)(2): "Development and implementation of a corridor management plan to maintain the scenic, historical, recreational, cultural, natural, and archaeological characteristics of a byway corridor while providing for accommodation of increased tourism and development of related amenities."²

Paragraph (7) describes a digital interpretive guide almost exactly. No pairing with construction required — the statute contemplates tourist information as its own eligible project.

The catch: funding for this program is intermittent. It lapsed in 2012, was revived by the Reviving America's Scenic Byways Act, and the most recent grant cycle concluded in April 2023.³ Statutory eligibility is not the same as available money. Check FHWA for a current Notice of Funding Opportunity before you plan around it, and do not let a consultant tell you this program is "available" without showing you an open NOFO.

Recreational Trails Program — FHWA, administered by your state

RTP is "an assistance program of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Each State administers its own program, usually through a State resource or park agency."⁴

Distribution requirement. States must allocate 30% to motorized trail uses, 30% to nonmotorized, and 40% to diverse trail uses.⁴

Where the digital layer fits. At least 88% of RTP funds go to trail project categories A through E — maintenance and restoration of existing trails including signage, trailside and trailhead facilities, equipment, new trail construction, and easement acquisition.⁵

But there is a separate carve-out worth knowing:

Category G — educational programs. Up to 5% of a state's annual apportionment may fund "operation of educational programs to promote safety and environmental protection as those objectives relate to the use of recreational trails."⁵

That is narrow. It is safety and environmental education specifically, not general interpretation. A digital trail guide that includes trail-safety guidance, Leave No Trace content, seasonal hazard information, and environmental protection messaging fits the language. A history tour does not. Do not stretch it.

The stronger play for most trail organizations is Category A or D: signage is explicitly included in both, and a sign package with QR-linked navigation and interpretive content is a signage project.

Grant-Ready Language

For a TA Set-Aside or capital signage scope:

"Wayfinding for the [Corridor/Trail] will be delivered in two coordinated layers. Physical trailhead and intersection signage establishes the route in the built environment. Each sign carries a QR code and printed URL linking to a mobile, GPS-guided digital wayfinding experience providing turn-by-turn navigation between points of interest, nearby business and amenity locations, and interpretive content for each stop — in the browser, without an application download. The digital layer is updated by [Agency] staff without a developer, so route changes, closures, and new destinations are reflected the same day rather than at the next sign-replacement cycle."

For a Scenic Byways application, cite the statute directly:

"Consistent with 23 U.S.C. § 162(c)(7), this project develops and provides tourist information to the public, including interpretive information about the [Byway Name], through a mobile-first digital platform. Travelers access GPS-aware interpretive content for each designated viewpoint, historic site, and community along the corridor from their own device, in the browser and without an application download, via QR codes posted at pull-offs and visitor centers. Engagement analytics support ongoing corridor management planning under § 162(c)(2) by identifying which segments and interpretive themes draw traveler attention."

For RTP Category G:

"The digital trail guide delivers safety and environmental protection education at the point of decision. Trail users scanning a trailhead code receive current trail conditions and closures, seasonal hazard advisories, right-of-way guidance for shared motorized and nonmotorized segments, and Leave No Trace practices specific to [ecosystem/resource]. Content is updated by [Agency] staff the same day conditions change, rather than at the next sign replacement."

Applying Together

• A city and a county, where the corridor crosses a boundary. Multi-jurisdictional scope scores well in TA.
• A trail nonprofit and a parks department. The department applies; the nonprofit contributes volunteer hours as documented in-kind match.
• A byway organization and the municipalities along the route. Corridor management planning is inherently multi-party, and § 162(c)(2) contemplates it.
• A parks agency and a historical society. The agency holds the trail; the society holds the interpretive content that makes the guide worth opening.

How to Line-Item It

• Digital wayfinding and navigation
• Interpretive content development and digital delivery
• Trail user safety and environmental education (RTP Category G only)
• Corridor management planning support
• Software subscription or contractual services

Procurement note. The federal micro-purchase threshold is $15,000, effective October 1, 2025.⁶ Under 2 CFR 200.320(a)(1), micro-purchases "may be awarded without soliciting competitive price or rate quotations if the recipient or subrecipient considers the price reasonable based on research, experience, purchase history, or other information; and maintains documents to support its conclusion."⁷ DestinationHub's $299 to $999 per year pricing sits well below that ceiling — which matters here, because transportation subrecipients face more procurement scrutiny than most.

What Not to Claim

• Do not submit a software subscription as a standalone transportation project. It will not survive first review.
• Do not claim Scenic Byways money is available without an open NOFO in hand. The statute is live; the appropriation is not always.
• Do not stretch RTP Category G to cover general heritage interpretation. The language is safety and environmental protection. Reviewers know their own program.
• Do not claim WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance. The ADA Title II obligation — April 26, 2027 for populations of 50,000 or more, April 26, 2028 for smaller entities and special districts⁸ — belongs to the public entity, not the vendor.
• Do not describe it as an app. It is browser-based, which is the advantage.

Where to Start This Week

Call your state DOT's Transportation Alternatives coordinator and ask two questions: when the next call for projects opens, and whether signage-and-interpretation packages have been funded in recent rounds. Then call your state trails coordinator and ask the same about RTP. Both people exist, both answer the phone, and both would rather scope your project correctly now than reject it in six months.

Sources

1. Federal Highway Administration, Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside — https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/transportation_alternatives/
2. 23 U.S.C. § 162, National scenic byways program — https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title23-section162&num=0&edition=prelim
3. Scenic America, Scenic Byway Grant Funding — https://www.scenic.org/why-scenic-conservation/scenic-byways/scenic-byway-grant-funding/
4. Federal Highway Administration, Recreational Trails Program Summary — https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/recreational_trails/overview/program_summary/
5. Federal Highway Administration, Recreational Trails Program Guidance, Part 2 — https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/recreational_trails/guidance/rtp9908_pt2.cfm
6. MRSC, Changes to Federal Procurement Thresholds — https://mrsc.org/stay-informed/mrsc-insight/november-2025/federal-thresholds
7. 2 CFR § 200.320, Procurement methods — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-D/subject-group-ECFR45ddd4419ad436d/section-200.320
8. U.S. Department of Justice, Fact Sheet: Web and Mobile App Accessibility Rule for State and Local Governments — https://www.ada.gov/resources/2024-03-08-web-rule/