Sacramento — $30 Million from State

August 2016

The Sacramento Bee reported that the streetcar project got a major boost from the state's award of $30 million from cap-and-trade funds.

The California State Transportation Agency included the planned streetcar line in Sacramento and West Sacramento among a short list of projects to be awarded funding this year from the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, which uses money from the state’s auctions of pollution credits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and expand mass transportation ridership.

“We think it is a worthy project,” CalSTA Secretary Brian Kelly said of the planned streetcar connecting Sacramento and West Sacramento. “It has strong support from local and federal leaders. It offers a way for people to get around downtown that is clean, and doesn’t involve (vehicle) emissions. It hits a lot of things that are important to us from a (greenhouse gas) standpoint.”

The new funding takes the project out of a hold status, where it was for the past year, by providing enough money to pay for the basic “starter line.” The federal government is expected to provide $75 million toward the estimated $150 million basic segment. West Sacramento has allocated $15 million for the project. Sacramento will contribute $7 million and the county $3 million. A further $10 million could come from state rail funds. A tax assessment district along the line is to be formed to help cover operating costs.