FTA New Starts: Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century Funding Commitments

By early 2001, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) had entered into full funding grant agreements for more than 30 New Starts projects since enactment of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). Projects funded under ISTEA and its successor, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, were reviewed, and how the program has changed during the past decade was assessed. The growth in the size of FTA’s “New Starts Pipeline” was examined, and the funded projects were surveyed for their characteristics, geographic distribution, and trends in non–Section 5309 funding. Observations were drawn that may be relevant to reauthorization of the New Starts program in 2003.