The federal government has allocated $125 million to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Silicon Valley Phase II project. The project was selected in June as the first to enter the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Expedited Project Delivery pilot program.
The funding is contingent on Santa Clara VTA meeting all program requirements needed to proceed to a construction grant agreement. Santa Clara VTA must secure funding through non-federal contributions for at least 75 percent of the project. These non-federal funds can consist of local, state and/or public-private partnership money. The $5.81-billion BART Silicon Valley Phase II project is being funded in part by two Santa Clara Counter voter-approved measures, 2000 Measure A and 2016 Measure B, as well as SB 1, which is a 2017 state law that provides $5.4 billion annually to transportation improvements for 10 years.
Once the funding threshold is met, FTA will expedite the review and evaluation of application materials under a streamlined review process as authorized by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. Santa Clara VTA estimates that the streamlined project delivery promised in the Expedited Project Delivery Program will allow it to fast track its funding process by more than 14 months.
"This administration is focused on expediting infrastructure projects and is providing $125 million for expansion of BART so that area residents can benefit from these improvements as quickly as possible," said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.
FTA explains that by encouraging innovative partnerships and funding from a variety of sources, projects can be completed more quickly, making better use of taxpayer dollars and bringing new transit service to growing communities.
"We are pleased to announce this $125 million funding allocation to VTA for the second phase of the BART extension, and to work with VTA as part of FTA’s Expedited Project Delivery Pilot Program, an initiative aimed at streamlining the delivery of transit projects," said FTA Acting Administrator Williams.
The BART Silicon Valley Phase II project is a 6.5-mile extension of the BART system from the Berryessa Station through downtown San Jose to the City of Santa Clara. The total estimated project cost is $5.58 billion and VTA has requested $1.395 billion in federal funding through FTA’s Pilot Program.
