Orange County transit agency pledges $56 million toward proposed streetcar line

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) last week agreed to commit $56 million for a proposed streetcar line between Santa Ana and Garden Grove, Calif.

The commitment means that OCTA could now receive up to $144 million from the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) "New Starts" grant program, according to a report from the Orange County Register.

By late this year or early next, the FTA is expected to rate OCTA's application for the project, the paper reported. The federal agency is slated to make a final decision in 2017.

Costs of the streetcar were initially estimated at $250 million, according to OCTA's site. Other funding identified for the project include revenue from Orange County's Measure M sales tax increase, as well as the FTA's New Starts program, OCTA officials said.

The four-mile route would run from the Santa Ana train station, through the city's downtown, and into a new multimodal transit hub in Garden Grove.