SEPTA, DRPA lose $5.7 million in federal funds

Local transit agencies will lose about $5.7 million in federal funds for projects that have stalled or died.

The funds, provided by the Federal Transit Administration, have lapsed and will be used elsewhere for other projects. The local money is part of $120 million in lapsed FTA funds first reported by Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group, a Washington nonprofit group that focuses on government transparency.

SEPTA will lose $3.9 million that was earmarked in 2006 for the defunct Schuylkill Valley Metro proposal to revive passenger rail service between Philadelphia and Reading. The project was derailed by its $2.1 billion price tag.

A study is now under way by the Montgomery County Planning Commission to find cheaper ways to ease the chronic traffic congestion on that Route 422 corridor.

The Delaware River Port Authority will lose $1 million earmarked in 2007 for a new ferry terminal at Penn's Landing on the Philadelphia waterfront and $702,240 for improvements to the cruise terminal at the Navy Yard.

Plans for a new ferry terminal at Penn's Landing have lagged, as DRPA waits on development plans from organizations including Penn Praxis and the new Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, said DRPA spokeswoman Danelle Hunter.

The agency did use $802,500 in federal funding for upgrades that will be made to the existing ferry terminal at Penn's Landing, Hunter said. That project will have a total cost of about $1.6 million.

The cruise terminal funding was allowed to lapse because of a decline in the local cruise business, Hunter said.

"Over the last few years, due to cruise industry changes such as the cruise lines' introduction of larger ships and a shift in the deployment of ships to Europe and after careful analysis by our staff, it was determined that the Intermodal Transportation Facility was not a valid use of funds at this point," she said.