The Atlanta Streetcar Project is “Shovel Ready.”

February 5,2010

The studies conducted on the project since 2006 and in preparation for the grant submission in 2009 represent a substantial body of work that makes possible for the partnership of the City, the CIDs and MARTA to expedite the project construction.

1. Environmental Assessment

• An Environmental Assessment was undertaken since the project is almost entirely within public rights-of-way and no significant impacts or effects are expected.
• Early coordination with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) was undertaken to assure that an appropriate process was being followed and to expedite their review of the document in accordance with the schedule for a Finding of No Significance (FONSI) by June of 2010.

2. Governance

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is in the process of being developed to specify how the project will be managed and operated, as well as who will be responsible for reporting, documentation, reviews, and liability.
• Efforts to formalize are well underway and on schedule to have the structure in place as required by the project schedule.

3. Design

• Preliminary engineering and design was conducted in July and August 2009 to support the TIGER grant application and Environmental Assessment and resulted in a set of plan drawings and cost estimates for alternative alignments, including segments associated with phased implementation of the streetcar.
• Design criteria and specifications from other agencies were obtained. These were reviewed to serve as standards for the streetcar project.
• Georgia Power is working closely with the project team to identify and resolve possible utility conflicts early on and facilitate construction and the start operation.
• A two-step RFQ/RFP process using a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Maintain (DBFOM) approach will be used to reduce a year out of the the project construction.

4. Procurement/Delivery of Rail Cars

• MARTA has initiated discussions with Utah Transit Authority (UTA) regarding the use of UTA’s options for additional rail vehicles resulting in a savings of 1 year from the schedule.

5. Procurement/Delivery of Trackway Components

• Procurement of trackway components, typically a long process will be conducted via an option added to MARTA’s upcoming Trackwork Replacement contract to be let in summer 2010.

6. Right-of-Way Acquisition

• The City of Atlanta owns the majority of the right of Way. The City and the CIDs are committed to facilitate acquisitions within their areas. The alignment will require minimal real estate acquisition. Streetcar stops will be placed within the public right-of-way.