The latest episode from the Transportation TV video series entitled State DOTs Respond to Coronavirus: A Video Diary highlights how Nevada Department of Transportation workers are supporting truck drivers as they haul critical goods and materials across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic – in part by keeping rest areas open, clean, and disinfected.

The Nevada DOT also began distributing nearly $22 million in rural transit relief funding on April 13; money made available via the $2 trillion CARES Act, which includes $25 billion worth of COVID-19 transit relief funding.

The Nevada DOT said in a statement that this transit relief means that all operating and maintenance expenses for eligible transit providers incurred from March 1 through the end of the federal fiscal year will be reimbursed 100 percent with federal funds – relieving the burden on local agencies, which typically provide matching funds, amid an anticipated significant drop in sales tax revenue.

With no expiration currently in place for CARES Act funding, the Nevada DOT said it intends to continue to award this relief funding through federal fiscal year 2021 and beyond until all funds are expended.

“While the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are unknown, this relief funding will provide some certainty that transit services can continue,” the agency added.