California Awards $1.2 Billion for 19 Transit and Rail Projects Statewide For Cleaner and More Convenient Public Transport

SACRAMENTO, California — Over 1.7 million Filipinos living in California are expected to benefit from California government's recent move to award 19 transit and passenger rail projects statewide worth $1.2 billion.

According to U.S. Census estimates, all 50 states and the District of Columbia report a measurable Filipino population, totaling 4.59 million nationwide, with California ranking first at 1.7 million residents. Almost half of the state's Filipino population lives in the Los Angeles metro area (540,000) and the San Francisco Bay Area (320,000).

In a press statement, the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) California is expanding access to cleaner, more convenient public transportation through 19 projects statewide that will improve passenger rail connections, put more than 75 new zero-emission buses and microtransit vehicles into service, along with new tap-to-pay fare options.

CalSTA said nearly $1.2 billion in awards for 19 transit and passenger rail projects statewide. This includes $750 million in multi-year funding to The Portal, a long-planned extension connecting Caltrain into downtown San Francisco.

Awarded through the eighth cycle of the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP), the funding will also put more than 75 new zero-emission buses and microtransit vehicles into service, modernize intercity and commuter rail, and make transit easier to use across California.

Led by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA), The Portal will extend Caltrain from Fourth and King streets to the two-level rail station already built beneath the Salesforce Transit Center, where future high-speed rail service will also arrive. The state's award builds on local and regional funding commitments and strengthens the project's position as TJPA advances through the Federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment Grants program.

“Under Governor Newsom, we're keeping Metrolink trains running in Southern California, bringing Caltrain into downtown San Francisco and expanding clean transit in the Central Valley," said California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin. “These investments are connecting communities and delivering lasting improvements that will benefit Californians for generations.”

Projects receiving funding come from across the state, from Truckee and Marin County in the north to Riverside and San Diego counties in the south, and have combined budgets of more than $8.5 billion, including local, federal and other state funds.

The other 18 awards, totaling nearly $450 million, fall into three areas.

Some $225 million for zero-emission fleets and facilities: 21 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses for Sacramento Regional Transit District, doubling peak service on the Causeway Connection between Sacramento and Davis; eight battery electric buses that complete Santa Monica's transition to an all-electric Big Blue Bus fleet; a battery electric fleet and modernized maintenance facility in Kings County, connecting communities to future high-speed rail; 11 battery electric buses for Marin Transit; 10 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses for Montebello Bus Lines; a new South County bus operations and maintenance facility for Santa Cruz METRO; zero-emission microtransit in Merced County; and six zero emission buses to implement a new bus rapid transit service in Tulare County.

More than $160 million for intercity and commuter rail: an overhaul of the statewide bi-level intercity passenger rail fleet led by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority; new signals and communications on North County Transit District's SPRINTER line between Oceanside and Escondido; a second main track in Fremont and Newark on the most congested stretch of the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) route; rider and access improvements at the Downtown Burbank Metrolink Station; and tap-to-pay fares with a bank card or phone across the full Metrolink network.

Nearly $45 million for transit access and new service: walking and biking improvements at BART's Ashby Station in Berkeley to prepare the site for transit-oriented development; a transit operations center and expanded e-bike share in Truckee; new fixed-route service in Camarillo; citywide microtransit with half-price fares in Torrance; and contactless fare payment on all 22 Beaumont Transit buses.

CalSTA received 54 applications requesting more than $4 billion this cycle. Projects were selected for their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase ridership, integrate rail and transit services, including high-speed rail, and improve safety.

TIRCP funds transformative capital improvements that modernize California's intercity, commuter and urban rail systems and its bus and ferry transit systems.

Since 2015, TIRCP has awarded more than $12.7 billion to 171 projects across eight cycles. The program is funded through Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, and California's Cap-and-Invest program.

TIRCP is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Invest dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment.