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10/9/2023
The construction materials costs and labor prices combined with inflation have boosted the anticipated cost of the final phase of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's (VTA) Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to Silicon Valley project's completion from $9.3 billion to $12.2 billion.
VTA management confirms the higher estimate remains within its means to fund the passenger-rail extension project, agency officials said in a press release.
"All major U.S. infrastructure projects are, unfortunately, impacted by extreme inflationary costs," said VTA General Manager and CEO Carolyn Gonot.
VTA BART to Silicon Valley has various funding sources at the state, regional and local level that include the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, Regional Measure 3, 2000 Measure A and 2016 Measure B. VTA is seeking a grant from the Federal Transit Administration New Starts Program to complete the project’s funding plan.
VTA built the extension's first phaseover $100 million under budget from Fremont to North San Jose’s Berryessa neighborhood, which opened in June 2020. Work is underway on the final phase, which extends the line 6 miles with four more stations through downtown San Jose into Santa Clara.
Funding for the final phase of the extension will not take away from other planned VTA projects. VTA has projected a 10-year balanced budget for the agency without sacrificing service and is in a strong and healthy position to manage inflationary impacts, Gonot said.
When completed, the extension will include three underground stations (28th Street /Little Portugal, Downtown San Jose, and Diridon) and one above ground station (Santa Clara). The four new BART stations are projected to have approximately an average weekday ridership of 54,000 by 2040, which represents 6.9% of total anticipated BART ridership, the release said.