Federal Funds Provided by Economic Recovery Bill
Washington – U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and U.S. Representative Vic Snyder (AR-02) today announced that the Central Arkansas Transit Authority is receiving $ 5,434,699 from the Department of Transportation to fund various transportation needs in Central Arkansas. The grant award is provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which Congress passed with their support and the President signed into law earlier this year.
“These funds will help residents and visitors to Central Arkansas safely and easily travel through Little Rock and surrounding areas. I’m pleased to see this federal support for public transportation in Arkansas and I will continue to fight for needed resources in our state,” said Lincoln.
“A good public transportation system attracts businesses to the state and improves the quality of life for Arkansans. The vehicle renovations and replacements, maintenance projects, and infrastructure improvements purchased with these funds will help keep our residents safe when using public transportation and boost economic development,” said Pryor.
“Public transit investments will create jobs. These improvements have great potential to help increase travel around Central Arkansas. I am pleased that we are receiving this Recovery funding to help make travel on our public transit system more safe and efficient,” said Snyder.
The funds in this grant will be used to purchase eight replacement buses, four replacement vans, bus and rail maintenance items and equipment. In addition, funds will be used to renovate the River City Travel Center and the administrative and maintenance facilities. Funds will also be used to expand storage space at the rail trolley barn to accommodate storage of a fifth streetcar.
