Reconnecting America today released an updated version of its Jumpstarting the Transit Space Race interactive map, which documents the national interest in fixed-guideway transit. The fresh data show demand for transit development is even greater than when the first Space Race report was released in October 2008.

Reconnecting America's policy team has prepared a table summarizing the major changes to the evaluation criteria that the Federal Transit Administration is proposing for its project justification criteria for New Starts and Small Starts projects.

The recently announced compromise to fund the federal government through the remainder of FY2011 preserves several critical programs, but also raises cause for concern. Reconnecting America is pleased to see that the compromise continues to support the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which is effectively coordinating federal housing and transportation programs to provide the greatest benefits at the regional and local levels. Programs such as DOT's TIGER grants and HUD's Sustainable Communities grants will save taxpayer dollars over the long-term by helping communities make better investments today. However, the reduction in the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts/Small Starts program (see analysis of cuts here) and the complete elimination of the High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail program in FY 2011 is a step in the wrong direction. In this era of $4-a-gallon gas, Americans need more transportation options, not fewer. In…

Q.   How much funding is cut from the New Starts/Small Starts program? 

A. The final Continuing Resolution, which would fund the government through the end of FY2011, made two cuts to the federal New Starts/Small Starts program, which provides funding for fixed guideway (e.g., subway, light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit) projects.  The amount of funding cut from FY11 depends on what the baseline for comparison is.  The CR would fund the New Starts/Small Starts program in FY11 at $1.6 billion, which is $400 million less than the FY10 level – but only about $220 million less than what the President requested for FY11.  (The President’s request for FY11 was $1.822 billion, while the FY10 actual appropriation was $2 billion).  The CR also rescinds $280 million from unobligated funds that were appropriated to FTA prior to FY11.  Q.   Is it true that all of the funding that is cut is attributable to New Jersey’s ARC project? 

A. No. …

The Center for Transit-Oriented Development has released a report that examines real estate development patterns along three recently built light rail lines. The findings of Rails to Real Estate: Development Patterns along Three New Transit Lines should help local planners and others considering new transit lines to maximize the benefits of new transit investments and foster transit-oriented development.

The three transit lines are the Hiawatha Line in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region in Minnesota, the Southeast Corridor in the Denver region in Colorado, and the Blue Line in the Charlotte region in North Carolina.

The analysis considers development patterns with regard to a number of factors, including proximity to downtowns and major employment centers, the location and extent of vacant or “underutilized” property suitable for development or redevelopment, block patterns that influence “walkability,” transit connectivity…

On February 15, 2011, the Federal Transit Administration issued its Annual Report on Funding Recommendations for the New Starts and Small Starts program for fiscal year 2012 (FY 2012). The report lists the New Starts and Small Starts projects that make up the program budget included in the President’s FY 2012 Federal Budget, which was released on February 14, 2011.  The total budget for the New Starts and Small Starts programs in the President’s FY 2012 budget is $3,225,556,000.

Reconnecting America President and CEO John Robert Smith applauded today's award of nearly $600 million in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II construction and planning grants.

The Center for Transit-Oriented Development (CTOD) has responded to the Federal Transit Administration's request for suggestions on how to change the New Starts and Small Starts project justification criteria and, in particular, improve the calculations used to score proposed transit capital projects.