AASHTO Journal - AASHTO Comments on FTA Grant Policy Update

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently provided feedback to the Federal Transit Administration regarding its proposal to revise the policy guidance for its Capital Investment Grants or CIG program, which funds major local transit capital investments, including heavy rail, commuter rail, light rail, streetcars, and bus rapid transit systems.

[Above photo via the FTA]

The FTA’s CIG program funds three types of projects with specific financial and scope criteria: “New Starts,” which encompasses large fixed-guideway projects or extensions costing $400 million and up, as well as projects seeking $150 million-plus in CIG funds, with a maximum 60 percent CIG share; “Small Starts,” which covers smaller fixed-guideway or corridor-based bus rapid transit projects under $400 million and seeking under $150 million in CIG funds, with a maximum 80 percent CIG share; and “Core Capacity,” which supports large-dollar increases capacity on existing crowded fixed-guideway corridors by at least 10 percent, with a maximum 80 percent CIG share.

The agency published a Federal Register notice on October 1 outlining specific proposals to “streamline” CIG guidance documents while “right-sizing” requirements throughout the CIG process. The intent of those proposed revisions, FTA stressed, is to “improve readability for practitioners while ensuring greater transparency of FTA and accountability of CIG project sponsors within the funding constraints of the program.”

In a comment letter sent November 6 to FTA, AASHTO said it welcomed FTA’s efforts to streamline the approval process for CIG projects, while recommending that FTA establish a phased transition plan to the new process while also grandfathering in projects that have already entered the “Project Development” chapter under the current guidance process.

“That will help realize these shared [process improvement] goals while supporting projects already underway,” AASHTO said in its letter.

“AASHTO also encourages FTA to consider the practical implications of applying the proposed guidance to projects currently in the CIG pipeline,” the organization noted. “A phased transition based on project milestones, together with appropriate grandfathering, would give project sponsors the flexibility to advance the project and likely preserve prior expenditures.”

That approach, AASHTO stressed, would “minimize the need to revise financial plans, conduct additional analyses, or revisit previously agreed-upon project decisions, thereby reducing uncertainty and helping projects remain on schedule.”