Federal bill includes funds for L.A.'s Purple Line, Regional Connector projects

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (LACMTA) Purple Line extension and Regional Connector projects each would receive $65 million in fiscal-year 2014 under the federal government-funding bill being considered in Congress, the agency announced on its blog yesterday.

The bill appropriates $1.9 billion for new fixed-guideway projects. Combined with available prior year transit funds, a total of $2.1 billion is available for the U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) New Starts program, LACMTA officials stated in the blog.

“This level of funding is adequate to fully fund the president’s fiscal-year 2014 budget request of $65 million for the Purple Line Extension and $65 million for the Regional Connector,” the blog stated.

The bill also would increase funding for the USDOT's Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program to $600 million, an increase of $100 million over last year's TIGER V program, LACMTA officials said.

The Purple Line project involves a 3.9-mile heavy-rail extension from the terminus at the Wilshire/Western Subway Station to the Wilshire/La Cienga. The project includes three stations.

The Regional Connector is a 1.9-mile light-rail line that also involves the construction of three stations.