California sending $1.13 billion to Caltrain electrification, BART and other Bay Area projects

By Eliyahu Kamisher, Bay Area News Group

California officials on Tuesday announced a $1.13 billion cash infusion to a handful of overbudget transportation projects that transit planners hope will one day ring the Bay Area in fast and reliant rail service.

The money flowing to the Bay Area and elsewhere is meant to help mega-projects – including BART through San Jose and Caltrain’s electrification – stay on track as agencies report ballooning cost estimates. Projects across the state now need to line up new money from state and local sources in order to secure billions more in federal grants from Washington.

Toks Omishakin, who heads the California State Transportation Agency, said the funds “will help get these transformative projects over the finish line and into operation.”

“With billions of additional state investments in the pipeline, more upgrades are on the way – putting California transit agencies in a strong position to compete for significant federal infrastructure funding to deliver even more improvements,” said Omishakin.

The money includes $375 million for bringing BART trains running through San Jose, $367 million to finish Caltrain’s electrification project and another $250,000,000 to increase BART’s passenger capacity through the Transbay Tube. Over $1 billion was also allocated to projects in Southern California and the Central Valley.

In a statement, Caltrain said the money will fully close their funding gap for transitioning the system from diesel fuel to electricity and will help the agency stave off service cuts, which had been projected for as early as July 2023.

The funds come from TIRCP, a key transit infrastructure program that is backed, in part, by California’s 54-cent gasoline tax and cap and trade program.

But Tuesday’s announcement comes as transit projects are facing headwinds. Along with rising costs, the current flow of infrastructure money from the state is tied to last year’s budget surplus. Now as the state faces a deficit Newsom has proposed cutting $2 billion in rail project funds for the next fiscal year, setting up a battle with some Bay Area lawmakers.

The $9.4 billion BART through San Jose project still needs to snag another $375 million from the state as the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority looks to secure a massive $4.5 billion grant from the Biden administration.

The latest award “brings VTA $375 million closer to securing a historic federal investment in Silicon Valley mobility,” said Carolyn Gonot, VTA’s general manager.

Along with BART and Caltrain, Valley Rail, which plans to build a new passenger train line between Stockton and the East Bay, landed nearly $142 million.

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