$1.55 billion Federal Transit Administration funding secured for Honolulu rapid rail public transit project

FTA Signs historic agreement to fund Honolulu rail project

Honolulu Rail Transit

The City and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) signed a historic agreement that secures $1.55 billion in federal funding for Honolulu’s rail transit system.

The agreement was signed during a ceremony on December 19 in Washington D.C., with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood; FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff; U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye’s Chief of Staff Jennifer Goto Sabas and the Senator’s widow, Irene Inouye; U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka; U.S. Senator-Elect Mazie Hirono; Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa; Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle; Honolulu City Council Chairman Ernest Y. Martin; City Council Vice Chairman Ikaika Andersen; and HART Executive Director and CEO Dan Grabauskas, in attendance.

“The Honolulu rail transit project, the first of its kind in the state, will bring new transit options to the growing region and create a modern transportation system that is built to last for future generations,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood.  “And though, sadly, Senator Inouye cannot be here with us today, this agreement is a testament to his tireless advocacy on behalf of his state and its people.”

The signing of the Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) marks the final step of the FTA’s New Starts federal funding process for O`ahu’s new rail system and makes $200 million in federal funding available to the Honolulu rail project for fiscal year 2012. The full system is slated to be operational in 2019.

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Video: Federal funding secured for Honolulu rail project $1.55 billion

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Video: Final EIS Video Guide -Part 1 of 3

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Video: Final EIS Video Guide -Part 2 of 3

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Video: Final EIS Video Guide -Part 3 of 3

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Honolulu

Honolulu trolley car past

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Tren Urbano -America’s other island rapid rail transit system
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Tren Urbano is a 10.7 mile heavy rail line that runs between Bayamon Centro and the Sagrado Corazon are of Santurce in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Tren Urbano heavy rail system was officially inaugurated on December 19, 2004. In 1993, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) selected the Tren Urbano as one of the Turnkey Demonstration Projects under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. The original capital cost for the project as specified in the Full Funding Grant Agreement totaled $1.250 billion. The final cost of the project at close-out was $2.25 billion.

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