VTA announces federal funding for BART to San Jose

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), the transit agency designing and building the BART extension to San Jose and Santa Clara, on Friday announced the federal government will contribute $5.1 billion to help complete the historic and long-awaited project.

The award from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is the second largest transit-related grant from the agency in history and the largest amount of federal money ever given to a West Coast transportation project, said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

Still, the award is $700 million less than what was requested to complete the BART extension to the South Bay.

“I think (the FTA) felt they stretched as far as they could,’’ Mahan said, adding that the BART extension was competing for federal money with more than 60 other projects nationwide.

Mahan said he believes cost savings can be found by having “difficult conversations” with every contractor working on the project.

“It’s not going to be easy, but I’m confident we are going to be able to sit down with all of our partners and find ways to close this gap,” he said.

Officials must find the $700 million before the federal government will release its money for the project, Mahan said.

“So, it is imperative that we close the gap in the coming months to position us to pull down the funds next year and not delay the project,” he said.

While local leaders are optimistic about finding the money, there are critics who say it might not be that easy.

“The state of California is tapped out. I don’t think they can get anymore from the state and the feds are done with them,’’ said Jerry Cauthen, the president of the Bay Area Transportation Working Group, a nonprofit transit watchdog organization.

“Their only chances are private sources or local sources. The only measures they have are Measures A and B and those (transit improvement) measures have money in them, but they’ve already been allocated.”

The group, like many others, has opposed the controversial decision to go with a single-bore tunnel design rather than the traditional twin-bore tunnel design and has been pushing for a cost comparison between the two.

“We think that it would at least save between $3 and $5 billion. We absolutely think the reason the VTA staff has been so reluctant is they are afraid of the answer. They are afraid of what they’ll get. It’s hard to switch gears,” Cauthen said.

State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) said he will lend his support as chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.

“This is the first time we’ve had a gap to fill that’s the last gap that’s less than a billion dollars,” Cortese said Friday. “That means we’re done and let’s make it done, let’s make it happen.”

While BART will operate and maintain the South Bay line, VTA is completing the final phase of the 16-mile extension project with the last six miles running through downtown San Jose and ending in the city of Santa Clara.

Friday’s funding news comes just a month after a coalition representing hundreds of businesses sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg urging the FTA to quickly release billions to bring BART to the South Bay. The extension is the largest single public infrastructure project ever proposed in Santa Clara County.

The four-station BART extension that will run from the Berryessa Transit Center in North San Jose through downtown and up to Santa Clara has a price tag that has skyrocketed from $4.4 billion to $12.7 billion in the last decade. Originally slated to begin service in 2026, its opening date has now been pushed back to 2037.