Better Administration of Capital Grants Could Reduce Unnecessary Expenditures on Mass Transit Projects
CED-82-22
Published: Apr 20, 1982. Publicly Released: Apr 20, 1982.
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Highlights
GAO reviewed six capital grants awarded to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to determine how well the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) was monitoring them and whether the program was cost effective.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator of UMTA to require grantees to include a project monitoring plan as part of the grant application. At a minimum, the plan should include UMTA requirements for monitoring projects. UMTA could then certify the plan and randomly spot check the grantee's monitoring performance using either project managers or independent evaluators. UMTA should insist on a minimum level of acceptable performance and that a grantee's performance be tied to future grant awards. UMTA should adopt a system of penalties and incentives that would either punish or reward grantees based on performance. |
Closed – Not Implemented
Since this report was issued, Congress has made major legislative changes which affect grant administration and the appropriateness of this recommendation. It appears that the intent of this recommendation may be satisfied with the new legislative requirement for annual and triennual audits of UMTA grantees. GAO will examine the adequacy of UMTA regulations to implement these provisions.
|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator of UMTA to redistribute project managers' grant workloads by having them concentrate on major grants and monitor minor grants on a sample basis until procedures are in place to carry out a project monitoring plan and a system of punishment and rewards based on grantee performance. |
Closed – Not Implemented
Since this report was issued, Congress has made major legislative changes which affect grant administration and the appropriateness of this recommendation. It appears that the intent of this recommendation may be satisfied with the new legislative requirement for annual and triennual audits of UMTA grantees. GAO will examine the adequacy of UMTA regulations to implement these provisions.
|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator of UMTA to negotiate with MBTA for better use of the Haymarket North project's express track. If a better use cannot be found, it should examine ways of recovering some of the track's costs. |
Closed – Not Implemented
MBTA has agreed to apply for technical study funds to examine alternative uses of the express track. However, UMTA believes that recovering funds used to construct the track is not a realistic option because the initial decision to construct the track was a good one.
|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator of UMTA to limit UMTA participation in the acquisition of automatic train control equipment for the Orange Line to an amount equal to what UMTA participation would have been in 1978. |
Closed – Not Implemented
UMTA does not plan to take action on this recommendation. It believes that MBTA should not be penalized for delays in purchasing and installing automatic train control equipment because such delays were justified.
|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator of UMTA to recover $5.6 million used to purchase and install three boilers for the MBTA Immediate Needs Power Program. |
Closed – Implemented
UMTA has entered into an agreement with MBTA requiring that the boilers be sold and that the federal government receive 80 percent of the proceeds. MBTA was not able to sell the boilers because the market is limited. MBTA is advertising for bids to scrap the boilers. At most, only a small recovery is likely.
|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator of UMTA to establish guidelines for UMTA-supported projects involving external funding to ensure that sufficient funds will be available to complete projects. |
Closed – Not Implemented
UMTA plans no action on this recommendation. It disagreed with the GAO interpretation of the facts which support the need for this recommendation.
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Contract costsEquipment managementFederal aid to localitiesFinancial managementGrant administrationMass transit fundingMass transitMonitoringUrban transportationRapid transit