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 2006-08-30 monographic deposited born digital 48 p. GA 1.13:GAO-06-819 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-819 P0b002ee18038ccda f:d06819 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-819 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-819 GAO-06-819 Budget controllability Budgeting Federal aid for transportation Federal grants Mass transit funding Program evaluation Program management Transportation Policies and procedures FTA New Starts Program FTA Small Starts Program FTA Very Small Starts Program Other Written Product A59906 The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) authorized about $7.9 billion in commitment authority, through fiscal year 2009, for the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) New Starts program, which is used to select fixed guideway transit projects, such as rail and trolley projects, and to award full funding grant agreements (FFGAs). The New Starts program serves as an important source of federal funding for the design and construction of transit projects throughout the country. SAFETEA-LU requires GAO to report each year on FTA's New Starts process. As such, GAO examined (1) the number of projects that were evaluated, rated, and proposed for FFGAs for the fiscal year 2007 evaluation cycle and the proposed funding commitments for the fiscal year 2007 budget; (2) procedural changes that FTA proposed for the New Starts program beginning with the fiscal year 2008 evaluation cycle; and (3) changes SAFETEA-LU made to the New Starts program and FTA's implementation of these changes. GAO reviewed New Starts documents and interviewed FTA officials and project sponsors, among other things, as part of its review. GAO is not making recommendations in this report. In commenting on a draft of this report, FTA provided technical clarifications, which we incorporated as appropriate. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-819/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-819.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-819/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-819.pdf GAO-06-819 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-06-819 Other Written Product GAO-06-819; Public Transportation: New Starts Program Is in a Period of Transition; Budget controllability Budgeting Federal aid for transportation Federal grants Mass transit funding Program evaluation Program management Transportation Policies and procedures FTA New Starts Program FTA Small Starts Program FTA Very Small Starts Program