In the 2008 election, Barack Obama pledged to expand public transit across New Orleans and Baton Rouge to help the cities continue their recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

We reached out to public transit advocate Rachel Heiligman, executive director of Ride New Orleans, who cited a $45 million federal grant in 2010 for a streetcar extension project. And while the streetcar extension represents the biggest federal investment in the past four years, there have been others.

Heiligman pointed us to a $320,000 grant for the Jefferson Transit Authority in the New Orleans metropolitan area for electronic technology that would give passengers instant updates on arrival and departure times of buses.

The Obama administration dedicated $127 million in 17 public transit projects in New Orleans and more than $31 million in 14 projects in Baton Rouge, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.

The money paid for everything from new buses to passenger shelters and fare collection equipment.

As we noted in our last update, Louisiana had considered pursuing federal stimulus funds for a light rail project connecting New Orleans and Baton Rouge, but Gov. Bobby Jindal decided against it.

As a candidate, Obama vowed to dedicate federal money to developing public transit in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas. In the form of transportation grants for buses and streetcars, he did just that. We rate this a Promise Kept.