The Orange County Transportation Authority is slated to receive almost $45 million in state funds for two transit projects involving rail and buses.
OCTA learned Monday that it has been awarded the funds by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) through the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP).
“We are very thankful to the state for continuing to recognize the value of our projects in Orange County, which will continue to enhance the ability of our residents, workers and visitors to more efficiently travel to their destinations by using public transit,” said OCTA Chairman Gene Hernandez, also the mayor of Yorba Linda.
$39.4 million in funds will support the OCTA’s Central Mobility Loop project, which is focused on public transit in central Orange County, the area of the county with the heaviest concentration of people who cannot or do note commute by automobile.
These funds will be used to buy 33 zero-emissions buses and build the necessary supportive infrastructure. The upgrades will deliver a marginal reduction in emissions since the OCTA already operates a fleet of near-zero emissions buses.
Some of the state monies will also be combined with federal grant money to replace 10 gasoline-powered paratransit vehicles with zero-emission vehicles.
READ: Feds Awards $2.5 Million To OCTA To Buy Zero-Emission Paratransit Buses
Part of the $39.4 million will also fund implementing transit signal priority at 60 traffic signals and to all buses traveling along 12 miles of the Bravo! 543 route – which runs along Harbor Boulevard from the Fullerton Transportation Center to the intersection of Harbor and MacArthur in Santa Ana. This will allow buses to move through intersections with more consistent speeds and builds on OCTA’s successful 94 signal-timing projects that have synchronized 3,285 signals along 838 miles of Orange County streets.
Some of the funds will also go to building new bike storage at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center, and installing fast-charging stations for electric vehicles at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center and the Fullerton Transportation Center.
$5 million in state funding will go toward the Coastal Rail Corridor Relocation Study intended to find longer-term solutions for preserving the coastal rail line, a critical link that is vital for passengers, freight and the military along the second busiest rail corridor in the nation.
The study will look at long-term options for approximately 11 miles of the Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSSAN) rail corridor through south Orange County.
