Feds Commit $5.1 Billion to South Bay BART Extension

South Bay transit officials notched a major milestone on Friday, announcing that the federal government will commit nearly $5.1 billion to the project bringing BART through downtown San Jose and into Santa Clara.

The major backing from the Federal Transit Administration was celebrated by officials from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which is responsible for planning and building the 6-mile BART extension — though a major funding gap still exists.

The project is currently estimated to cost $12.7 billion and is expected to be completed in 2037.

VTA’s origins estimate, in 2014, pegged the cost at $4.7 billion and aimed for a completion date in 2026. As recently as spring 2022, VTA still touted a $6.9 billion estimate before facing multiple schedule delays and ballooning cost increases to the current figure.

“This is the second-largest investment that the federal government has made in any single transportation project in the country’s history,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, who also chairs the VTA board.

However, the figure from the feds falls about $1.2 billion short of what VTA officials and project boosters have been calling for from feds.

In recent campaigns advocating for the project, Chavez and other advocates have been calling on the FTA and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to support the project to the tune of nearly $6.3 billion — about 49% of the total cost.

The rest of the project is currently slated to be paid for using billions from local tax measures, including 2000’s Measure A and 2016’s Measure B, as well as through major contributions from regional and state transportation funds.

“We would have loved to have gotten the $6.2 billion. But there are a lot of projects across the country that are competing for the same amount of money, and the Federal Transit Administration has to balance that all out,” Carolyn Gonot, VTA’s general manager, told KQED.

Gonot said her staff was keeping a close eye on other projects around the country and regionally that were getting funding at lower levels than requested, including the Transbay Downtown Rail Extension Project, which will extend Caltrain in San Francisco. That project was funded at about 41% by the FTA, she said.

“Working with FTA, we were aware that probably our number was not going to come in at 49.4%,” she told KQED. “So we took a preemptive step,” she said.

The VTA board voted in late June to approve allocating an additional $500 million from Measure A funds to the BART extension project, Gonot said. The money would come out of revenues that are expected to flow to the agency throughout the remaining life of that measure, which expires in 2036.

Reshuffling those funds means VTA is left with a $700 million gap for the extension’s overall funding, something Gonot and other supporters said they are confident can be closed without major cuts to the project.

“I’ve been working on this project for 30 years, and we have persevered, and I believe that we will figure out a way to close this funding gap. Either through efficiencies, cost savings, minor scope changes, those types of things,” Gonot said. “So, I believe it will get done.”

As currently planned, the project will extend BART from its current end of the line at Berryessa Station in North San José and will run west to create four new stations: 28th Street/Little Portugal near East San José, Downtown San José, Diridon Station and Santa Clara. Much of the trackway will be underground, with stations and lines dug by a massive $76 million tunnel-boring machine being assembled in Germany.

Chavez, speaking during a press conference announcing the funding on Friday, said the VTA will put a 60-day freeze on any new professional spending at the agency to help close the $700 million gap. She added the agency plans to renegotiate current contracts, though she didn’t offer details.

“We’re going to ask everybody to help,” she said. “I am so confident that as a community, we’re going to be able to wrap our arms around this project and make it happen.”

Tom Maguire, the head of megaprojects for VTA, said he believes the project will still be able to meet the current time and cost estimates.

“It’s undoubtedly a challenge, but the $5.1 billion is great news,” Maguire said. “Now we know what we can count on. And now our funding plan, it’s a lot more concrete. We know the problem we’re trying to solve right now.”

Mahan, who, along with Gonot, received the call from federal officials on Thursday letting them know about the funding commitment, said it represents a historic investment.

“It’s a national bet on Silicon Valley, on the innovation economy,” Mahan said.

“But more than anything, it’s a bet on the ingenuity and hard work of the people of Santa Clara County,” Mahan said. “And that’s fitting because it’s the people of Santa Clara County who got us to this point and enabled us to go secure this historic federal match.”