James Oberstar: “One of the items in our technical corrections bill that I mentioned at the outset was clarifying language to help the…”

“One of the items in our technical corrections bill that I mentioned at the outset was clarifying language to help the Federal Transit Administration to properly interpret section 3011 of SAFETEA-LU on New Start and Small Start project justifications. The reason for that language was that in the consideration of the bill in the House and Senate, and then during conference on SAFETEA-LU, it was clear the Federal Transit Administration was trying to, by administrative action, change existing law. So we, the lawmakers, gave specific direction to FTA that rather than rely so heavily on their own fabricated cost-effectiveness index in determining authorization or approval of New Start and Small Start projects, they are giving inadequate consideration to other factors, economic development and environmental benefits among them, the investments that private sector interests make at transit stops on major projects, such as Dallas Area Rapid Transit, such as the Washington Area Metro project, where over $20 billion in private sector capital investments have been made along the stops.”