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The Charlotte, N.C city council recently approved a Full Funding Grant Agreement for the Charlotte Area Transit System South Corridor light-rail project. A contract between the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and city, the FFGA calls for the federal government to fund half the project’s capital costs.

The approval enables CATS to finalize design and construction plans.

The FTA now will forward the FFGA to Congress for a 60-day commend and review period. The agency could obtain the grant as early as December. The remainder of the $398.7 million project would be funded by the state and a half-cent local sales tax.

Scheduled to open in October 2006, the Charlotte-to-Pineville, N.C., light-rail system is expected to average more than 17,000 daily passengers by 2025.