The Associate Administrator for Planning and Environment is responsible for providing executive direction to all Federal Transit Administration (FTA) activities relating to transit and transportation planning and environmental enhancement. The office is responsible for administering a national program of metropolitan and statewide planning assistance by managing financial and technical resources and by directing program implementation to provide procedural and expert support for required environmental, planning, and capital development processes; to advance the state-of-the-art in transportation planning, environmental analysis and enhancement, and capital development; and to serve as the principal advisor to the Administrator and Deputy Administrator and provides executive direction pertaining to planning and environmental issues.
Directs, carries out, or oversees administration of delegated grant-in-aid programs; conduct of special studies; provision of information about office programs and activities; management of systems for control of fiscal, human, or physical resources to assure timely and responsive accomplishment of assigned objectives; and a variety of representational or liaison duties. As the Associate Administrator for Planning and Environment, the incumbent performs the following duties:
Directs and coordinates the activities of component offices which are multi-disciplinary in nature and responsible for the following programs:
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) provides financial and technical assistance to local public transit systems, including buses, subways, light rail, commuter rail, trolleys and ferries. FTA also oversees safety measures and helps develop next-generation technology research.
Transit services supported by FTA span many groups and provide wide-ranging benefits. Since 1964, FTA has partnered with state and local governments to create and enhance public transportation systems, investing more than $12 billion annually to support and expand public rail, bus, trolley, ferry and other transit services. That investment has helped modernize public transportation and extended service into small cities and rural communities that previously lacked transit options.
An agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), FTA is headed by an administrator appointed by the President of the United States. FTA is one of DOT’s 10 modes of transportation and is run by a headquarters in Washington, D.C. as well as 10 regional offices that assist transit agencies in all states and U.S. territories.