Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) - Comments

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Transit Administration 49 CFR Part 633 DOCKET NO. FTA-2009-0030 CAPITAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT Thank you for the 60-day extension to submit additional comments on the subject Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) relating to Capital Project Management. We also appreciate the opportunity this past month to participate in the two Federal Transit Administration (FTA)-sponsored webinars on this important subject. As mentioned in our earlier comments that we submitted on October 7, 2009, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) is an experienced FTA grantee with extensive recent experience in the successful planning, design, construction, and management of large and complex capital projects, including heavy rail subway, several light rail transit lines, bus rapid transit on dedicated guideway, and high-occupancy vehicle lane projects for buses and carpools. The following are our additional comments on the ANPRM: 1) Self-certif ication for grantees who have successfully implementedmajor capital Projects FTA's Project Management Oversight (PMO) contractor program over the past 20 years has been a great success overall and has been promoted to other agencies as an example on how to provide proper oversight for major federal investments. The results of the FTA study of major New Starts projects completed between 2003 and 2009 speak for themselves: 71% of the projects came in within the Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) budget and on schedule, and - even more impressive - when including projects which exceeded their budgets by 5% or less, over 90% of the projects met this standard. We suggest that grantees with demonstrated successful major capital program experience, such as the LACMTA, be given the opportunity to self-certify their program management qualifications, with FTA review and concurrence. The FTAassigned PMO contractors would continue in their current oversight and reporting roles. For new major capital projects, we would envision a process under which grantees would submit information detailing their technical capacity and capability of the existing organization and past experience. This could easily be documented in the Project Management Plans (PMPs), which would continue to be submitted together with other documentation needed to obtain an FFGA. Once a grantee's capability is concurred in by FTA, the grantee would not be subject to any additional or enhanced FTA oversight envisioned under the ANPRM. If conditions change or project issues arise, FTA can always step in and mandate additional project level oversight and corrective action. We believe that the above approach would be in line with the Administration's proposed streamlining of the New Starts process and also would support a more cost effective use of both FTA and grantee resources. This approach also would minimize the suggested additional levels of oversight and reporting requirements at the local level. Furthermore, the oversight program resources thus freed up could be applied more effectively to assist smaller or less experienced grantees implementing major capital projects for the first time. 2) Best use of additional PMO contractor resources We understand with the growth and increased funding levels for the New Starts program in recent years, the "takedown" amount available for FTA contractor oversight also has increased proportionately, while internal FTA staffing has remained relatively constant. We believe the availability of additional PMO contractor assistance could be focused on helping FTA evaluate successful (and not so successful) major projects. The additional assistance could extend itself to analyzing and sharing lessons learned with everyone; providing support to FTA Headquarters staff as appropriate when evaluating and making recommendations for resolving specific issues or problems; doing special reviews or risk assessments when warranted; and providing professional advice and assistance "on-call" to FTA - with the understanding that FTA will have the responsibility of making all final decisions. Thank you again for this additional opportunity to comment. Sincerely, FRANK FLORES Executive Officer, Regional Capital Development Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority