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5/13/2024
Last week, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced the federal budget includes $500 million that can be applied to a full funding grant agreement (FFGA) with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) for the BART Silicon Valley extension in northern California.
The allocation is the first federal funding commitment for the project through the FTA’s New Starts Funding Program. The VTA plans to submit a formal request for about $6 billion — roughly half the project's cost — through the program later this summer, with the expectation of completing the FFGA with the FTA before year's end, authority officials said in a press release.
The FFGA will outline the funding commitment's terms, timeline and annual allocations. The other half of the project cost is already committed via local and state funds, VTA officials said.
The project calls for extending Bay Area Rapid Transit service six miles from the Berryessa Transit Center into downtown San Jose with an underground tunnel, ending in Santa Clara.
The FFGA inches the project closer to a construction start and completion, said VTA Chair and Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez.
“It is a sign of incredible confidence that the FTA and the President of the United States are interested in this project,” she said.