DOT awards US$742.5m in recovery act funds to 11 transit projects

DOT awards US$742.5m in recovery act funds to 11 transit projects - News

DOT awards US$742.5m in recovery act funds to 11 transit projects
Source: U.S. Department of Energy - Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
May 18, 2009
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on May 7 that it will award $742.5 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to 11 transit projects located in nine states. The awardees include light rail projects in Phoenix, Arizona; Los Angeles, California; Denver, Colorado; Portland, Oregon; Dallas, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Seattle, Washington. Other projects include both a commuter rail extension and a subway project in New York City, New York, and a bus rapid transit system in Springfield, Oregon. The funds will also support a heavy-rail project in northern Virginia that will mainly benefit Washington, D.C., connecting the Washington Dulles International Airport to the 'Metro' rail system operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. DOT previously committed to providing $900 million for that project between now and 2016. See the DOT press release on the Recovery Act funding.

President Barack Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2010 also includes $1.83 billion in funding for major transit projects, of which more than $600 million will go towards 10 new or expanding transit projects. The proposed budget provides additional funding for all of the projects currently receiving Recovery Act funding, except for the bus rapid transit project. It also continues funding for another 18 transit projects that are either currently under construction or soon will be. The proposed funding will support transit projects in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia. See the DOT press release.