Distributing the Other Prop 1A Rail Funds
When Prop 1A passed in November 2008, it included $950 million for other passenger rail systems that would connect to the HSR line. Much of that money will be awarded in May, and Bay Area agencies are in the hunt:
Five Bay Area train operators say they are entitled to as much as $400 million of projects to accommodate the $42.6 billion bullet train that would run along the Caltrain tracks from San Francisco to San Jose on its way to Los Angeles. They include the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, San Francisco Muni and the Altamont Commuter Express….
The California Transportation Commission reserved $745 million for 10 transit agencies in December, leaving each train operator this week to apply for its share of the money and prove its projects qualify. The commission calculated each agency’s share based on track length, service levels and ridership.
Three other intercity rail corridors will get $142.5 million ($47.5 million each). The $745 million then goes to those agencies that apply. Mike Rosenberg’s article lays out who is asking for what (final applications are due on March 15):
BART appears on track for more than twice as much money as any agency in the state, and on Thursday its board of directors is expected to approve an application for $257 million.
BART would put $150 million of the 1A money toward its $1 billion project to replace its rail cars. It says it has federal money for the rest of the project. The rest of BART’s high-speed-rail money would go toward increasing seat capacity in cars, the Hayward yard maintenance complex, Embarcadero and Montgomery station upgrades, train control reliability and an operations control center.
Caltrain, meanwhile, will apply for $40 million as part of its project to electrify its diesel railroad, which will be necessary to accommodate bullet trains. VTA is eligible to apply for up to $26 million. It said it may use part of its share for Caltrain electrification, while Muni said it will seek $61 million to improve rail connections. ACE train operators said they will apply for $15 million for upgrades to service, Altamont corridor environmental studies, track enhancements and connectivity improvements.
The amounts requested are not arbitrary, but conform to CTC guidelines published last month, which is why BART is asking for $250 million and ACE only $15 million. In each case the funds appear set to go to help pay for planned upgrades, although not for new routes or service.
While $760 million has been “designated” to different operators, where is the other $190 million supposed to go to? Has this been allocated yet?
I’m really curious, what will Muni be using this money for? If HSR is built, Muni connections to Transbay and 4th and King will be very important. I wonder how they’ll prep for this with the money.
Does anybody know how Sacramento Regional Transit plans to spend its share?
It’s odd because I had kind of assumed this would go to new service or more frequent service. Kind of weird to see that it is going to a bunch of small improvements. Then again it isn’t much money.
Not odd at all. It was set up this way years ago.
The deal (in NorCal) is that BART gets nearly all of the money, based on a formula set up for just that purpose, and uses it to temporarily paper over long-standing and glaring budgetary holes with deferred maintenance and core system renewal shortfalls and subsequently, in a state of “financial health” attested to by the MTC, is authorized to divert billions of regional funding dollars to PBQD-profiting expansion in the Fremont-San Jose corridor. Done, done, done.
This was all perfectly obvious at the time the Prop 1A language was being tortured into the form in which it appears. Much of it is even in public documents! Who needs smokey back rooms when the smucks can understand what they’re voting for anyway?
The money flows exactly the way it was supposed to, and into the pockets of the designated recipients. ACE and Caltrain and the like are purely window dressing and side shows. Look at the orders of magnitude of the numbers!
Joey Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
The fact is that BART tends to take the lion’s share of Bay Area transit funding, regardless of the source. And they tend to put it toward expensive and overengineered projects. This is not an isolated incident.
Do the numbers for BART include Capitol Corridor? Or does BART actually have 267 miles of track?
Peter Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
I’m referring to the numbers in the formula share attachment.
Peter Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
And I think I found my answer above.
Robert Cruickshank Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Capitol Corridor, San Joaquins, and Pacific Surfliner are covered by the $142.5 million devoted to intercity rail.
Peter Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Yeah, it helps if I read the entire post first.
If Caltrain is considering electrifying its diesel railroad because of HSR, then Metrolink and other transit agencies should do so as well. It makes passenger trains more environmentally-clean and not dependent on fossil fuels.
Joey Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
It does make sense, however, CalTrain is the only one with any real plans to do so (which, btw, have been in the works for years now).
Spokker Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 1:09 am
Metrolink is slowly imploding on itself and is entering yet another round of service cuts and fare hikes. Before they even think about electrification they must install positive train control because they can’t keep their pedophile Connex engineers from texting young railfan boys.