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Project Profile: Washington Metro Capital Improvement Program

Washington Metro Capital Improvement Program

photo credit: Larry Levine, WMATA

Location

Washington, DC Metro Area (DC, MD, VA)

Project Sponsor / Borrower

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)

Program Area

Project FinanceValue CaptureTIFIA

Value Capture Techniques Sales Tax Districts
Mode

Transit

Description

WMATA operates a rail and bus system serving the National Capital area. It is the fourth largest transit system in the U.S., and WMATA is the nation's second largest rail transit system, spanning 103 miles and incorporating 83 stations at the time of this project. (Today the system has 91 stations and 117 miles of track.)

WMATA's FY 1999 - FY 2004 capital improvement program (CIP) replaced vehicles and rehabilitated facilities and equipment on the rail and bus systems. Individual components of the CIP included procurement of new buses and rail cars; major maintenance and rehabilitation of electrical and mechanical systems, communications, and track and structures to improve system-wide performance; escalator and elevator rehabilitation and other station enhancements; parking lot improvements; and upgrades to several maintenance facilities.

Cost

$2,324 million

Funding Sources

Federal grant funds - $1,547 million

Local matching funds - $560 million

Grant Anticipation Notes (GANs) - $217 million

In addition to these sources, WMATA had a $600 million loan commitment (i.e., line of credit) from Lehman Commercial Paper, Inc. which was guaranteed under TIFIA. This loan commitment permitted WMATA to demonstrate adequate fiscal capacity under the terms of its funding agreement with local jurisdictions.

Project Delivery / Contract Method

Fixed price contract for rail car procurement

Private Partner

None

Project Advisors / Consultants

To USDOT TIFIA JPO

  • TIFIA Legal Advisor - Hawkins, Delafield & Wood, LLP
  • TIFIA Financial Advisor - Montague DeRose & Associates, LLC
Lenders

Bondholders, USDOT TIFIA

Duration / Status

The CIP is complete.

TIFIA Credit Assistance

Loan guarantee - $600 million.

The TIFIA loan guarantee permitted WMATA to obtain the loan commitment at no cost. The TIFIA guarantee backed repayments to Lehman Commercial Paper, Inc. should WMATA have drawn on the loan commitment and was unable to repay. Revenues that would secure a loan commitment draw, and thus the TIFIA guarantee, included the system's gross revenues as well as payments provided by local area governments to support the CIP.

Financial Status / Financial Performance

TIFIA credit agreement signed on January 28, 2000.

WMATA received a loan guarantee of up to $600 million from TIFIA in 1999 to finance $2,324 million in total project costs for a capital program designed to deal with deferred maintenance and make improvements to the existing system over a series of subsequent years.

WMATA successfully completed planned construction, rehabilitation, and other improvements for the CIP without drawing on the loan guarantee intended to help finance total project costs from a program designed to deal with deferred maintenance and to undertake improvements to the existing system over a series of subsequent years. With the expiration of the agreement in January 2010, this loan guarantee was retired.

Innovations
  • The first TIFIA project to utilize the program's loan guarantee provision
  • Funding agreement with local jurisdictions
Related Links / Articles

TIFIA Termination Resolution

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Contacts

Not available

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