APTA Urges FTA to Raise PMO Threshold, Decrease Frequency of Reviews
9/3/2025
APTA wrote to FTA Administrator Marcus J. Molinaro, Sept. 2, in response to FTA’s Project Management Oversight [PMO] Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Docket No. FTA-2025-0010), published in the Federal Register at 90 FR 28690 on July 1, 2025.
In the letter, APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas urged FTA to raise the threshold for project management oversight and definition of a major capital project from $300 million to $500 million and to eliminate the federal funds threshold. This change would bring FTA’s regulation into parity with the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) oversight threshold for major capital projects. Further, it would reduce the number of lower-risk projects undergoing project management oversight and allow FTA to focus its oversight on higher-risk projects. Eliminating this project oversight would also yield millions of dollars of cost savings to public transit agencies and FTA.
In addition, APTA recommends decreasing the frequency of reviews for major capital projects to an annual process, reducing unnecessary and burdensome requirements. This recommendation brings FTA policy into parity with FHWA projects. At the same time, FTA would retain its authority to determine on a case-by-case basis that a Capital Investment Grants project should be subject to project management oversight or more frequent reviews based on an assessment of risk.