No federal money for BART extension

"We don't need the money until 2008. It would have been nice,” but VTA officials are more concerned that the Federal Transit Administration reservations about the project be addressed in time for the final design and construction process, Kunz said.

VTA General Manager Michael Burns hopes that by withdrawing from the federal New Starts program this year, the transit agency will be able to modify the Bay Area Rapid Transit project, making it more palatable to the FTA.

"The majority of New Starts funding is awarded for final design and construction. By using local funding for the preliminary engineering and environmental work we can focus our efforts on securing federal funds during the final design phase,” Burns said. "This action will allow us to improve the project's ability to compete for funding in the next phase.”

Two issues are at the heart of the FTA's reservations about the project.

"The driving issues right now are the overall cost of the project and the ridership,” Kunz said.

According to the VTA Web site, the cost of the proposed 16.3-mile BART extension to Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara is projected at $4.192 billion in 2003 dollars. The extension is expected to add 111,500 average weekday boardings to the BART system by 2030.

VTA is hoping for a total federal contribution to the project of $750 million, Kunz said.

VTA has already reduced the cost of the project by 25 percent, according to Kunz. However federal officials are seeking a further reduction of approximately 10 percent, according to an analysis of figures provided by Kunz.