DALLAS – President Obama's proposed budget for fiscal 2017 includes $3.5 billion of federal grants for transit projects in 18 states that expand options and provide improved access to jobs, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Wednesday.
The New Starts, Small Starts, and Core Capacity grants would advance the construction or completion of 31 rail, bus rapid transit, and streetcar projects, Foxx said.
"These projects transform communities, improving mobility and access to jobs, education and other important opportunities for millions of people," he said. "Public transit is an important ally in the effort to ensure that hard-working Americans are offered a chance to succeed in the 21st century economy."
The capital investment grants, which were reauthorized by the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act enacted last year, are the Transportation Department's primary method of supporting locally planned, developed and operated transit projects, Foxx said.
The 2016 capital grant recommendations totaled $3.2 billion for 25 projects.
The 31 recommendations announced Wednesday would bring the total of new and expanded mass transit projects supported by the capital investment program to almost 100 since 2009, he said.
The grants include $75 million for a new pilot program in the FAST Act for eight public-private partnership projects selected by the Transportation Department that are seeking 25% or less of federal funding.
Projects recommended for their first capital investment grant include the first phase of Chicago's Red and Purple line modernization effort, Indianapolis's Red Line bus rapid transit project, and a streetcar project in downtown Sacramento, Calif.
Funding recommendations for the 2017 New Starts grants include $1.4 billion for 10 projects already under construction in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Calif., Denver, Orlando, Honolulu, Boston, Charlotte, N.C., and Portland, Ore.
Seven projects not yet under construction in Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Ana, Maryland, Minneapolis, Fort Worth, Texas, and Seattle would receive $950 million in 2017.
Core Capacity grants totaling $458 million are recommended for 10 Small Starts projects not yet under construction in Tempe, Ariz., Sacramento, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Fla., Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Mich., Kansas City, Mo., Albuquerque, Everett, Wash., and Seattle.
Core Capacity grants of $599 million would go to improve capacity on existing heavily used transit lines in the San Francisco area, Chicago, New York, and Dallas.
