Ken Larsen's website - DOLRT has low chance of getting Federal funding
(November 26, 2017) I just checked the FTA's list of projects in the engineering phase. There are six projects, and DOLRT currently has the lowest rating:
| # | Name of project | Location | Fed $ being asked for | Overall project rating | Project justification rating | Local financial commitment rating |
| 1 | Maryland National Capital Purple Line | Bethesda, MD | $ 900M | High | Medium-high | High |
| 2 | Lynnwood Link Extension | Seattle, WA | $ 1,173M | Medium-High | Medium-High | Medium |
| 3 | METRO Blue Line Extension (Bottineau LRT) | Minneapolis, MN | $ 753M | Medium-High | Medium | Medium-High |
| 4 | Southwest Light rail transit | Minneapolis, MN | $ 929M | Medium-High | Medium | Medium-High |
| 5 | Santa Ana - Garden Grove Streetcar Project | Santa, Ana, CA | $ 149M | Medium-High | Medium | Medium-High |
| 6 | Durham-Orange LRT | Durham, NC | $ 1,238M | Medium | Medium | Medium |
The complete list of Capital Investment Grant (CIG) projects can be found here. Projects in the engineering phase are listed with the acronym NSE (New Starts Engineering). I clicked on a project's PDF and then the PDF inside the PDF to see the ratings.
Note that besides DOLRT being rated last, DOLRT is asking for the most federal money. In addition, Durham-Orange counties are heavily Democratic, and the Federal government is currently Republican dominated.
Combine all of this, and I conclude that DOLRT has zero chance getting Federal funding.
The Federal Funding decision won't be made until late 2019 or early 2020. Until then, DOLRT is burning $ 5M/month in its engineering phase.
Options available if DOLRT does not receive Federal funding