Federal Transit Administration April 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the City of Madison, WI (Madison) intend to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for a proposal by Madison to implement new transit operations in an approximately 13-mile travel corridor extending from the City of Middleton on the west, through the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison to the Isthmus of Madison, WI to the American Parkway interchange on US 151, southwest of Sun Prairie, WI and encompassing the surrounding urbanized areas. Growing mobility challenges coupled with very limited opportunity for highway capacity expansion has prompted the communities in the area to consider investment in transportation improvements, both to supplement and enhance existing Metro bus service and to extend service to new markets throughout the corridor and in the region. Alternatives proposed to be considered in the draft EIS include No Build, the Transportation System Management (TSM) Alternative and various Build Alternatives.

This competitive solicitation is for fiscal year 2006-2009 funding, subject to congressional appropriations action, for the new National Fuel Cell Bus Technology Development Program (NFCBP), administered by the Federal Transit Administration. The purpose of the program is to facilitate the development of commercially viable fuel cell bus technology and related infrastructure. FTA intends to enter into grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements with no more than 3 geographically diverse nonprofit organizations and recipients under chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, to conduct fuel cell bus technology and infrastructure projects under the program. Regional consortia in partnership with transit agencies are encouraged to apply. The Federal share of the cost of a project carried out under this Program shall not exceed 50 percent of such cost.