DOT Secretary Ray LaHood announced on Oct. 17 the release of $928.5 million in federal funds to more than 300 public transportation projects in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Funding for the grants comes from the Federal Transit Administration’s Fiscal Year 2011 Alternatives Analysis, Bus Livability, and State of Good Repair programs.

“Investing in America’s transit systems, rails, roads, ports, and airports will generate tens of thousands of construction-related jobs and put more money in the pockets of working Americans,” said LaHood. “But we must do more. Congress needs to pass the American Jobs Act so we can continue to invest in critically needed projects like these, to repair and rebuild our nation’s transportation system.”

“By passing the American Jobs Act.” said FTA Administrator Peter M. Rogoff, who joined LaHood at the announcement, “Congress can accelerate these efforts and give the American people the opportunity to keep more of their paycheck in their wallet rather than hand it over at the gas pump.”

Alternatives analysis projects selected for funding include:

* $1 million to review public transit options for Valley Metro’s five-mile South Central Corridor in Phoenix, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), modern streetcar, and light rail;

* $1.2 million for LYNX in Orlando, FL, to examine the key 21.5-mile east-west segment of State Route 50 between the University of Central Florida and West Oaks Mall, passing through downtown Orlando and connecting with two future SunRail stations; and

* $1 million for possible enhancements to the eastern edge of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s service area, using either Red Line heavy rail or HealthLine BRT.

Bus livability projects include:

* $9.7 million to Los Angeles Metro to reconfigure Patsaouras Plaza in downtown Los Angeles to provide a busway station for El Monte Busway passengers, which will include stairs connecting directly to the city’s Union Station;

* $5 million to Philadelphia’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to restore the 110-year-old 33rd Street and Dauphin Street bus facility, which is in a state of disrepair; and

* $2 million to St. Louis Metro for the purchase of articulated buses to replace older 40-foot buses on the heavily traveled Grand Boulevard route. The larger buses would provide 30 percent more passenger capacity while avoiding the increased emissions that would result from adding to the number of buses on the route.

State of good repair projects include:

* $30 million to the Chicago Transit Authority to replace buses that are beyond their useful lives with new diesel-hybrid vehicles;

* $15 million to Gold Coast Transit in Oxnard, CA, to fund construction of a new administrative, operations, and maintenance facility to replace the current one, which the agency has outgrown; and

* $1.5 million to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for development of an integrated asset management system that will allow the system to track the condition of its fleet, facilities, and equipment.

FTA selected the grant recipients from 839 project applications representing $4.9 billion. The complete list of selected projects can be found here.