Mass Transit: Grants Management Oversight Improving, but Better Follow-Up Needed on Grantees' Noncompliance

748786PDFProceedingsGAO/RCED-98-89Grant aidFederal government agenciesOversightManagementCompliancePublic transitFederal assistance programsUnited States. Government Accountability OfficeNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Transit Law and RegulationNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Transit Planning and PolicyNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Transit Economics and FinancesNTL-LAWS AND REGULATIONS-LAWS AND REGULATIONSUS Transportation CollectionThe Department of Transportation's (DOT's) Federal Transit Administration (FTA) administers a multibillion-dollar program of financial assistance for grantees that provide urban and rural public mass transportation. In 1992, the General Accounting Office (GAO) designated FTA's management and oversight of billions of dollars in federal transit grants as a high-risk federal program that was especially vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. Since that time, FTA has taken several steps to address the oversight weaknesses that were responsible for its high-risk designation. In February 1995, as a result of the various initiatives FTA was undertaking to improve its grants management oversight, GAO removed FTA from its high-risk list with the understanding that GAO would continue to monitor the progress and implementation of FTA's oversight initiatives. This report discusses GAO's latest review of FTA's grants management oversight. Specifically, the report discusses (1) FTA's initiatives that have provided an increased focus on grants management oversight and (2) the improvements that can be made to correct grantees' noncompliance and assess the program's effectiveness