New Starts Program challenges and preliminary observations on expediting project development

668400879PDFProceedingshttp://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS114817GAO-09-763TFederal aidFederal assistance programsGrant aidGovernment fundingSubsidiesUnited StatesUnited States. Government Accountability OfficeClowers, A. Nicole.United States. Government Accountability OfficeUnited States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community DevelopmentNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Transit Economics and FinancesNTL-PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION-Transit Law and RegulationUS Transportation CollectionThe New Starts program is animportant source of new capitalinvestment in mass transportation.As required by the Safe,Accountable, Flexible, EfficientTransportation Equity Act: ALegacy for Users, the FederalTransit Administration (FTA) mustprioritize transit projects forfunding by evaluating, rating, andrecommending projects on thebasis of specific financialcommitment and projectjustification criteria, such as costeffectiveness,economicdevelopment effects, land use, andenvironmental benefits. To beeligible for federal funding, aproject must advance through thedifferent project developmentphases of the New Starts program,including alternatives analysis,preliminary engineering, and finaldesign. Using the statutorilyidentified criteria, FTA evaluatesprojects as a condition foradvancement into each projectdevelopment phase of the program.This testimony discusses the (1)key challenges associated with theNew Starts program and (2)options that could help expediteproject development in the NewStarts program. This testimony isbased on GAO\ue2\u20ac\u2122s extensive body ofwork on the New Starts programand ongoing work\ue2\u20ac\u201das directed byCongress. For this work, GAOreviewed FTA documents andinterviewed FTA officials, sponsorsof New Starts projects, andrepresentatives from industryassociations. The FTA reviewedthe information in this testimonyand provided technical comments