Maryland’s plan to build a light-rail Purple Line in the Washington suburbs would receive $125 million in federal aid in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, under the Obama administration’s proposed transit budget released Wednesday.
The rail project would receive federal money — the Federal Transit Administration has recommended a total $900 million for construction — only if the state finalizes a full funding agreement with the FTA. Under federal funding rules, that agreement would not be signed until the state has finalized the project’s estimated cost and secured the rest of the 16-mile line’s funding.
However, the fact that the Purple Line remains in the FTA’s budget recommendation for a third year shows that it is still an Obama administration priority, even though Maryland officials have yet to announce a winning bid that will determine the project’s projected final cost. That announcement is expected sometime this month.
Gregory Sanders, vice president of the Purple Line Now advocacy group, noted that the $125 million in aid recommended for next fiscal year surpasses the $100 million included for the Purple Line in each of the two previous Obama administration budgets. Congress appropriated about $200 million , but the Maryland Transit Administration has not been able to spend it without the funding agreement in place. An FTA report released Wednesday said the MTA anticipates having a full funding agreement in mid-2016.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Katherine Shaver over at the Washington Post
