Looks like rail is on track to get more money.
When the stimulus bill passed with $8 billion allocated for high-speed rail–a big winner considering the House hadn’t included any money for it in the stimulus package and the Senate had only set aside $2 billion — it was clear that it was the surprise winner.
And it’s become even clearer now that rail has become President Barack Obama’s pet project.
Now, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced that transit projects around the country will receive $742.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), a.ka. stimulus, funds.
The grants will go toward projects for which the Federal Transit Administration has already entered into multi-year federal commitments known as “full funding grant agreements,” in Arizona, California, Colorado, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington State.
The ARRA grants announced do not increase the federal commitment to the projects, but expedite funds committed under the agreement between the federal government and the transit agencies.
The arrival of federal funds will allow the transit agencies to save on financing costs while putting additional dollars into the local economy; will supplement local resources, which have declined during the economic downturn, and allow for a quicker investment in the project, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
