FTA Seeks Pilot Program Participants

The Federal Transit Administration is seeking participants in a pilot program for expediting transit capital projects.

Authorized under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, the pilot program includes a streamlined federal review process to help deliver projects more quickly, FTA officials said in a news release.

Eligible projects must be public-private partnerships, be operated and maintained by employees of an existing public transit provider, and have a federal share not exceeding 25 percent of the project’s total cost.

The deadline for submitting expressions of interest is Nov. 13.

FTA plans to work with the selected project sponsors to define the steps a transit agency must compete before a construction grant is awarded. Congress has appropriated $25 million for the program.

The FTA said it is particularly interested in projects that consider value capture techniques as part of their project financing.

Value capture strategies are public financing tools that help recover a share of value that transit creates. This could include tax-increment financing, special assessments or joint development.

Tags: Federal Transit Administration, Fixing America's Surface Transportation, FTA grants, Public transportation