FTA allocates funding to SCVTA’s BART Silicon Valley Phase II project

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) yesterday announced it would allocate $100 million to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s (SCVTA) Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Silicon Valley Phase II project in California.

The announcement marked the FTA’s second funding allocation for SCVTA’s nearly $6.9 billion, 6.5-mile extension of BART’s heavy-rail system from San Jose to Santa Clara under the authority's Expedited Project Delivery (EPD) pilot program.

FTA previously announced a $125 million funding allocation to SCVTA in August 2019. Now, FTA has allocated a total of $225 million for the project, FTA officials said in a press release. 

The EPD program is designed to expedite delivery of new transit infrastructure projects that utilize public-private partnerships, are planned to be operated and maintained by employees of an existing public transportation provider, and have a federal share not exceeding 25 percent of the project cost.

By encouraging innovative partnerships and funding from a variety of sources, projects can be completed more quickly due to streamlined federal reviews, FTA officials said.

The funding allocations will be awarded to SCVTA when the project has met all program requirements needed to proceed to a construction grant agreement.