The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) announced that on Wednesday, April 24, it received the $125 million in federal funding for the Honolulu Rail Transit Project (the Project) from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) that resulted from the successful completion of the amended Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) that was executed on February 1, 2024. This is the first federal funding under the FFGA that HART has received since 2017.
“Thanks to the collaboration of the Federal Transit Administration, the HART Board, Mayor Rick Blangiardi, the Hawaii Congressional Delegation, and the Honolulu City Council, HART was able to successfully execute an amendment to the FFGA, which allows this important public works project to continue moving forward,” said HART Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina. “These funds are necessary for us to complete the project and will help us achieve our construction milestones as we work through the critical path of the project.”
The original FFGA, signed in 2012, provided a grant of $1.55 billion for the Project. Prior to yesterday, HART had received approximately $806 million of this amount. The amended FFGA reaffirmed the FTA’s commitment to the remaining $744 million and prescribed milestones for when the federal funding will be available to the Project. The recent execution of the amended FFGA was the first milestone and triggered this release of the $125 million of funding to HART. When HART awards the City Center Guideway and Stations contract, expected later this year, an additional $250 million will be made available for the project.