(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on August 24, 2009.)
Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration issued 33 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grants totaling more than $1 billion. The proceeds will help state and local transit systems fund the purchase of new vehicles, implement safety and security initiatives, and construct or rehabilitate infrastructure.
Transit-rail-related ARRA grants include:
• $266.9 million to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the Fulton Street Transit Center project;
• $78.3 million to the Maryland Transit Administration to overhaul Metro rail cars, improve track, rehabilitate stations, replace public-address systems and complete other work;
• $36 million to the city of Phoenix for the Central Phoenix/East Valley light-rail project;
• $31.5 million to the Connecticut Department of Transportation to improve the signal system on the Danbury Branch line and construct a 300,000-square-foot component change-out shop at the New Haven rail yard;
• $24.8 million to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to acquire back-up batteries for Metro rail stations and purchase buses;
• $17 million to the Delaware DOT to purchase four rail cars for the R2 line between Philadelphia and Newark, N.J., build a new maintenance facility and complete other projects;
• $13.9 million to the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District to upgrade signal and control systems; and
• $9.7 million to the Tri-County Metropolitan Transit District to build a park-and-ride facility and improve other infrastructure.