Procedural Guidance

The documents below describe the procedures which FTA has established to administer project advancement and evaluation under the New Starts Capital Investment Program.  Some documents are applicable to the overall project development process and some documents are specific to a stage of project development or a milestone, such as obtaining FTA approval of the New Starts Baseline Alternative.  For an overview of the New Starts project development process, please view this chart.

• New Starts Fact Sheets – September 2007. These one-page fact sheets explain key components of the New Starts program. 

• New Starts Checklists – June 2008. These checklists are for sponsors of New Starts projects submitting requests to the FTA to enter Preliminary Engineering (PE), to enter Final Design (FD), to apply for a Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA), and to request a Letter of No Prejudice (LONP).

•  Reporting Instructions and Templates – July 2009. The reporting instructions contain guidance for local project sponsors of proposed New Starts projects in the submittal of data and supporting information addressing the Section 5309 New Starts criteria. A submittal of this information is required when a project sponsor is requesting entry into Preliminary Engineering (PE) or Final Design (FD), and prior to execution of a Full Funding Grant Agreement. FTA will review and evaluate the information developed according to the Reporting Instructions. Ratings performed in support of the FY 2011 Annual Report on Funding Recommendations will use these reporting instructions and templates. Further, all requests to enter PE or FD from July 31, 2009 until FTA releases a revised set of instructions will use these instructions and templates.

• 2009 Additional Guidance on New Starts/Small Starts Policies and Procedures – September 2, 2009. This guidance describes changes to the New Starts and Small Starts local financial commitment rating, the consideration of "other" factors in project rating, and the required planning horizon year. Further, the guidance clarifies existing policies related to the documentation of uncertainties and use of alternate ridership/user benefit estimation methods. In addition, the guidance discusses changes to internal FTA practice regarding pre-award authority and letters of no prejudice. For additional information on New Starts policies that are developed through the rulemaking process, please visit the New Starts Statutes, Policies and Regulations section.     

• 2009 Guidance on New Starts/Small Starts Policies and Procedures – July 29, 2009. This guidance describes changes to the New Starts and Small Starts project justification rating as well as the requirements of projects which consider a tunnel during an alternatives analysis.   

• 2008 Guidance on New Starts Policies and Procedures – August 8, 2008. This guidance describes some procedural changes that FTA applied to projects seeking to enter into New Starts preliminary engineering or final design or Small Starts project development after August 8, 2008, and includes a discussion of the basis for the changes. 

• 2007 Guidance on New Starts Policies and Procedures – June 4, 2007. This guidance describes some procedural changes that FTA applied to projects seeking to enter into New Starts preliminary engineering or final design after June 4, 2007, and includes a discussion of the basis for the changes.  The 2007 Proposed Guidance document provides some information on alternative-specific constants not included in the final guidance. 

• 2006 Guidance on New Starts Policies and Procedures – May 16, 2006. This guidance describes some procedural changes that FTA applied to projects seeking to enter into New Starts preliminary engineering or final design after May 16, 2006, and includes a discussion of the basis for the changes.

• Advancing Major Transit Investments through Planning and Project Development – January 2003. This guidance is for the transit community, including FTA grantees and other agencies that may be interested in the planning and project development process for major capital transit investments. It describes the planning and project development process that precede FTA approval to enter Preliminary Engineering and Final Design, and identifies specific activities and products of the planning and project development process that FTA would like to provide assistance on.

• Additional Guidance on Local Initiation of Alternatives Analysis Planning Studies – This information is a supplement to Advancing Major Transit Investments through Planning and Project Development. This memorandum provides guidance on initiating a corridor-level planning study that includes the consideration of fixed guideway transit alternatives. It includes a description of the information that local study sponsors should submit to FTA at the outset of their Alternatives Analysis study. This guidance is intended for local transit operators, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, State Departments of Transportation, and other agencies that would need information on the procedures for initiating a corridor-level planning study.

• New Starts Baseline Alternative Review and Approval Procedures – This document describes the three-step process for developing and testing the no build and Transportation System Management (TSM) alternatives; developing a Final Definition of Alternatives and technical planning information about each alternative; and obtaining FTA approval of the New Starts baseline alternative.