DART will receive $78.4 million a year ahead of schedule

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson today announced that Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) will receive $78.4 million in federal money a year ahead of schedule.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided for expediting the funds, which DART would otherwise have received in Fiscal Year 2010 as part of its “full funding grant agreement” with the Federal Transit Administration.

“The expedited release of $78.4 million will enable DART to construct the new Green Line more quickly, expanding the reach of light rail transit in Dallas,” Congresswoman Johnson said.  “The construction of the Green Line will put more people to work, and northwest and southeast Dallas County will have another transit option much sooner than we had hoped.”

Upon completion, the Green Line will link Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Farmers Branch, Carrollton, Love Field and Downtown Dallas with Fair Park and Pleasant Grove.  The expansion will add approximately 60,000 daily riders to the system.

Congress passed and President Obama signed ARRA into law in February.  Congresswoman Johnson was the only Member of Congress from North Texas to vote for the economic recovery package.

###

U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure and a senior member of the Science Committee. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas, which, includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Lawn, Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, & South Oak Cliff; all of Balch Springs, DeSoto, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Ferris, Glenn Heights and Ovilla.