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The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transit systems. The FTA is one of eleven modal administrations within the DOT. Headed by an Administrator who is appointed by the President of the United States, the FTA functions through a Washington, D.C., headquarters office and ten regional offices which assist transit agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.

Public transportation includes buses, subways, light rail, commuter rail, monorail, passenger ferry boats, trolleys, inclined railways, and people movers.The Federal government, through the FTA, provides financial assistance to develop new transit systems and improve, maintain, and operate existing systems. FTA oversees grants to state and local transit providers, primarily through its ten regional offices. These grantees are responsible for managing their programs in accordance with Federal requirements, and FTA is responsible for ensuring that grantees follow Federal mandates along with statutory and administrative requirements.

In 1962 President John F. Kennedy sent a major transportation message to the U.S. Congress. It called for the establishment of a program of federal capital assistance for mass transportation. Said President Kennedy: "To conserve and enhance values in existing urban areas is essential. But at least as important are steps to promote economic efficiency and livability in areas of future development. Our national welfare therefore requires the provision of good urban transportation, with the properly balanced use of private vehicles and modern mass transport to help shape as well as serve urban growth."

President Lyndon Johnson signed the Urban Mass Transportation Act into law, which passed the House by a vote of 212-to-129 and cleared the Senate 52-41, on July 9, 1964, creating the Urban Mass Transportation Administration.^[1] The agency was mandated to provide federal assistance for mass transit projects, including the initial $375 million in capital assistance over three years mandated by the act. In 1991, the agency was renamed the Federal Transit Administration. ^[2]

1. ^ The Beginnings of Federal Assistance for Public Transportation. Federal Transit Administration.
2. ^ Urban Transportation Planning In the United States: An Historical Overview. U.S. Department of Transportation.

• FTA web site

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