In a tweet storm Thursday night, President Trump announced hundreds of million dollars in transportation funding would go to agencies across the country — including Valley Metro.
In the tweet, the president said U.S. Department of Transportation would release $100 million in funding to Valley Metro for the planned South Central light rail extension. Although the president’s tweet made it sound like new money, the funds had previously been set aside.
The $100 million going to the agency is the second allocation of a $530 million federal funding request. As Valley Metro CEO Scott Smith explains, the government isn’t handing the agency a check just yet.
"With the allocation last year of $100 million, and the allocation this year of $100 million, we now know that $200 million of the amount we’ve asked for has been budgeted, set aside for us, so that when we actually need it in the near future, and it’s appropriated by congress, we’ll actually be able to use it," Smith said. "We asked for it, but this is one more step in the federal government saying 'yes, you can have it.' Now we know we have at least $200 million that has been set aside of the amount we asked for."
Usually, Smith says he's notified by Transportation Department officials when federal funding comes through. The tweet was a little unorthodox.
"And this time it just showed up in a tweet from the president, so that was a pleasant surprise that came out of not nowhere, but we certainly weren’t expecting it," Smith said. "We're just grateful that the citizens have continued to support these projects, and we think they'll be excited once (the projects) are done, and they'll make a positive difference in our community."
