Washington, DC- (Tuesday, April 3, 2012) – Today, the Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration announced an $81,606,000 grant for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit System (DART).  This grant is for the design and construction of the Dallas Northwest and Southeast Light Rail Extension project. 

“This is wonderful news for DART and the Dallas community.  DART is a significant asset to our area and thousands of people rely on this stateoftheart transportation to connect them to various routes in North Texas every day,” stated Congresswoman Johnson.  “This grant will help spur economic development in our community.  The expansion of the Green Line is expected to provide $5.6 billion in economic impact and help create 48,000 long-term jobs in the North Texas region.”

The grant is part of the $700 million Full Funding Grant Agreement for the Green Line that DART was awarded by the Federal Transit Administration in 2006.  The 28-mile Green Line connects parts of South Dallas and Pleasant Grove to downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Dallas Market Center, six medical centers including Parkland Hospital, Love Field airport, and the cities of Farmers Branch and Carrollton.  The Green Line was the longest light rail project in North America, and employed more than 2,200 workers daily. 

This project includes 16 stations, 2,700 parking spaces, and 21-mile light rail track. This funding is being used to fund purchase of LRT vehicles, guideway & track, Right-of-Way acquisition, stations, support facilities and systems work and materials. 

The DART service area consists of 13 cities: Addison, Carrollton, Cockrell Hill, Dallas, Farmers Branch, Garland, Glenn Heights, Highland Park, Irving, Plano, Richardson, Rowlett, and University Park.

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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, Turtle Creek,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.