United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2002-04-30 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:GAO-02-603 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-603 P0b002ee18038cb8f f:d02603 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-603 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-603 GAO-02-603 Construction grants Federal aid for transportation Federal grants Mass transit funding Mass transit operations FTA New Starts Program Other Written Product A03192 Since the early 1970's, the federal government has provided a large share of the nation's capital investment in urban mass transportation. Much of this funding has come through the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) New Starts Program, which helps pay for rail, bus, and trolley projects. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century authorized about $6 billion in "guaranteed" funding for the New Starts program through fiscal year 2003. FTA's evaluation process assigns candidate projects individual ratings for project justification and local financial commitments. The process also assigns an overall rating intended to reflect the project's merit. FTA recommended four projects for funding commitments for fiscal year 2003 in its New Starts report and budget proposal. FTA evaluated 50 proposed projects for fiscal year 2003 and developed ratings for 31 of them. Twenty-seven of these projects were rated as "highly recommended" or "recommended." Although FTA has faced transit budget crunches for years, the agency will end the act's authorization period with $310 million in unused commitment authority. Proposals to limit the amount of New Starts funds would allow more projects to receive such funding, but could harm specific projects being developed and the local transportation planning process. For example, limiting New Starts funds to 60 percent of a project's cost for the 49 projects now in final design or preliminary engineering would "free up" $500 million for additional projects. However, only 20 percent of these projects plan to use New Starts funds for more than 60 percent of projected costs and would be affected by such a cap. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-603/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-603.htm GAO-02-603 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-603 Other Written Product GAO-02-603; Mass Transit: FTA's New Starts Commitments for Fiscal Year 2003; Construction grants Federal aid for transportation Federal grants Mass transit funding Mass transit operations FTA New Starts Program Public Law 105-178 Public Law 106-246