SACRAMENTO, CA — The California State Transportation Agency awarded nearly $800 million to 23 projects statewide to expand transit and intercity rail service and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The fifth cycle of Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) grants kicks off a period of historic investment to improve and expand public transportation throughout California while positioning the state to strongly compete for significant new federal funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. In addition to the $796.1 million awarded, the recently enacted 2022-23 state budget includes $7.65 billion in TIRCP funding from the General Fund over the next three years.

“Under Governor Gavin Newsom’s leadership, California is making historic investments in transit and intercity rail, and the transformative projects receiving funding today are leading the way to a cleaner, safer, more connected, and more equitable transportation system,” California State Transportation Agency Secretary Toks Omishakin said.

With a total budget of nearly $2 billion consisting of federal, state, and local funding, the 23 projects will directly benefit disadvantaged communities and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 4.3 million metric tons — the equivalent of taking more than 930,000 gas-powered cars off the road.

Representative projects statewide include:

• More than $116 million for critical transit corridor improvements for San Francisco Muni rail and bus services.
• A major investment in 261 zero-emission buses and NextGen corridor improvements for Los Angeles Metro, totaling more than $177 million.
• More than $60 million in transit-oriented development improvements at East Bay BART stations and in Humboldt County to increase transit ridership and prepare for construction of affordable housing at the transit hubs.
• New and expanded bus services between Humboldt and Mendocino counties, in Tulare and Kings counties, between Torrance and Downtown Los Angeles, in the Bay Area’s Interstate 680 Corridor, and in Monterey County.
• New and expanded rail service from the Bay Area and Sacramento to Turlock on the Altamont Corridor Express, as well as on the Metrolink Perris Valley line in Riverside County.