1). 2). Four projects were recommended for funding with  the expectation that they would be ready for new FFGAs before the end of  fiscal year 2006, and an additional 6 projects were identified as potentially  receiving a recommendation for New Starts funding outside of FFGAs. Administration’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Requests Similar Amount of Funding to Previous Years

The administration’s fiscal year 2006 budget proposal requests that $1.5  billion be made available for the New Starts program, an amount similar to  that requested in the last two fiscal years. TEA-21 and subsequent amendments and legislation provided  FTA the authority to make about $13.5 billion in funding commitments for  New Starts projects. FTA Has Not Consistently Used the Public Notice or Rulemaking Process to Introduce Changes or Solicit Industry Comment on Proposed Changes

Of the 16 changes that FTA has made to the New Starts application,  evaluation, rating, and project development oversight processes since the  fiscal year 2001 evaluation cycle, seven underwent rulemaking, including  providing formal notice to the transit industry and soliciting public  comment, while nine changes did not (see table 2). FTA  officials also said that some of the changes—such as the risk assessment  requirement—involve project development oversight and do not affect the  evaluation and rating process; therefore, in their view, the changes do not  need to be included in program regulations. New Starts Measures Have Evolved Over Time, but Not All Measures Count Toward a Project’s Rating

Many of the measures FTA uses to evaluate and rate New Starts projects  predate TEA-21 and have evolved over time. Although both TEA-21  and FTA’s current New Starts program regulations emphasize the  importance of using a multiple-measure approach for evaluating projects,  FTA assigns a 50 percent weight to both the cost-effectiveness and the land  use criteria when developing the project justification summary rating. Project sponsors we interviewed offered suggestions for  improving all of the project justification measures. Recommendations for Executive Action

To ensure that the New Starts regulations reflect FTA’s current evaluation  and rating process, and to ensure that FTA’s New Starts evaluation process  and policies are objective, transparent, and follow the intent of federal  statute, we recommend that the Secretary of Transportation direct the  Administrator, FTA, to take the following four actions:  ensure that the agency’s regulations governing the New Starts  evaluation and rating process reflect FTA’s current weighting practices  for the criteria when the regulations are revised;  improve the measures for evaluating New Starts projects so that all five  project justification criteria can be used in determining a project’s  overall rating, or provide a crosswalk in the agency’s New Starts  regulations showing clear linkages between the criteria outlined in  statute and the criteria and measures used in the rating process;  publish future changes to the New Starts program in the Federal  Register and subject future changes to the New Starts program to the  rulemaking process or, at a minimum, a 30-day informal review and  comment period, as appropriate. These interviews were designed to gain  project sponsors’ perspectives on a number of topics, including the manner  in which FTA communicates changes to the New Starts application,  evaluation, rating, and project development oversight processes; the  impact of the changes that FTA has made to the application, evaluation,  rating, and project development oversight processes since the fiscal year  2001 evaluation cycle—the first full evaluation and rating cycle after the  enactment of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21);  and the measures FTA uses to evaluate projects. Mass Transit:  Status of New Starts Transit Projects With Full Funding  Grant Agreements.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and subsequent legislation authorized about $13.5 billion in guaranteed funding for the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) New Starts program, which is used to select fixed guideway transit projects, such as rail and trolley projects, and to award full funding grant agreements (FFGA). GAO assessed the New Starts process for the fiscal year 2006 cycle. GAO identified (1) the number of projects that were evaluated, rated, and proposed for new FFGAs and the proposed funding commitments in the administration's budget request; (2) changes FTA has made to the New Starts application, evaluation, rating, and oversight processes since the fiscal year 2001 evaluation cycle and how these changes have been communicated to project sponsors; and (3) how FTA developed the measures used to evaluate and rate projects from the criteria outlined in TEA-21 and how those measures are used in the rating process.

What GAO Found

For the fiscal year 2006 evaluation cycle, FTA evaluated and rated 27 projects and identified 4 projects that were expected to be ready for new FFGAs before the end of fiscal year 2006 and an additional 6 projects that may be eligible for other funding outside of FFGAs. The administration's fiscal year 2006 budget proposal requests $1.5 billion for the New Starts program, a request similar to that of the past 2 years. FTA has made 16 changes to the New Starts application, evaluation, rating, and oversight processes since the fiscal year 2001 cycle that were primarily intended to make the process more rigorous and systematic. Seven of the 16 changes underwent rulemaking, including providing formal notice to the transit industry and soliciting comment, while 9 changes did not. FTA officials said that these nine changes are consistent with the existing regulations governing the New Starts process or relate to the project development oversight process rather than the evaluation and rating process and, therefore, in their opinion, do not need to undergo formal rulemaking. By not consistently soliciting public opinion, however, FTA is missing an opportunity to obtain stakeholder buy-in, increase the transparency of the New Starts process, and lessen potential difficulties project sponsors face in implementing the changes. Many of the measures FTA uses to evaluate and rate New Starts projects have evolved over time, with industry input, through formal rulemaking and informal efforts, such as workshops and reports. Although both TEA-21 and FTA's New Starts program regulations emphasize the importance of using a multiple-measure approach for evaluating projects, FTA assigns weight to all three financial criteria but only two of the five project justification criteria in developing a project's rating. FTA officials said that they do not use the other three project justification criteria--which are specified in TEA-21--because the measures fail to distinguish among projects. Project sponsors we interviewed offered suggestions for improving all of the project justification measures, and FTA has efforts underway to improve some of the measures.