CA: Monterey, King City awarded transportation project funds from the state

 Monterey-Salinas Transit has been awarded more than a million dollars by the California State Transportation Agency Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program to fund a travel information and promotion system, and King City gets funding for a multimodal transit project.

The $1,160,000 to MST was part of the 2024 Awards Cycle 7 Selected Projects and will help to fund the estimated $6,955,000 cost to procure and deploy a digital transit traveler information system for the Salinas Transit Center, Marina Transit Exchange, Sand City Station, and Monterey Transit Plaza, vehicles and bus stop shelters. The system Monterey-Salinas Transit currently uses to display real-time bus information in key service areas was implemented 20 years ago and is technologically obsolete and impacts the ability to share bus information with passengers.

More than $1.3 billion is being awarded from the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program to improve transit and passenger rail service in California.

The Content Management Systems at key transit hubs, transit centers, vehicles and bus stop shelters, enables unified information sharing across kiosks and personal devices, while integrating a Tap-to-Pay open-loop contactless payment system and a demonstration rewards program for ridership.

These upgrades will simplify and improve the MST rider experience and support the agency’s goal to provide safe, fast, reliable service across the network, including the SURF! Busway and Bus Rapid Transit, according to Monterey-Salinas Transit.

“Safety is our priority, but we cannot ignore the importance of the passenger experience,” said MST General Manager and CEO Carl Sedoryk in a press release. “The investment in technology to provide our riders with timely, accurate information and a simple, convenient process to pay their fare will support our current passengers, and maybe even attract others to try transit.”

The State of California Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program was created to fund transformative capital improvements that modernize California’s intercity rail, bus, ferry and rail transit systems to achieve the following policy objectives including reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, expand and improve transit service to increase ridership, integrate the rail service of the state’s various rail operations, including integration with the high‐speed rail system and improve transit safety.

“California is expanding our transportation network and making it greener and more equitable,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom in a release. “From new zero-emissions buses in the Central Valley to vital rail projects in Orange County, we’re building a better transit system to benefit all Californians.”

Twenty-seven projects are being funded statewide and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 4.3 million metric tons – equivalent to taking more than 1.3 million gas-powered cars off the road.

Additionally, there is a goal to provide at least 25% of available funding to projects that provide a direct, meaningful, and assured benefit to disadvantaged communities.

More than $4.8 billion has been invested since 2023 to transit and passenger rail projects from competitive Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program grants.

A TIRCP grant of $25 million was also awarded for the King City Multimodal Transit Center Project as part of a joint package of projects by the Coast Rail Coordinating Council that was awarded a total of $63,259,000.

Coast Rail Coordinating Council comprises San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, Transportation Agency for Monterey County and Ventura County Transportation Commission.

The King City multimodal transit project will include a new Amtrak stop near Pearl Street east of First Street, according to the city. Passenger service was provided in King City until the mid-1940s. The design includes the relocation of the Pearl Street crossing to Broadway Street to provide access to the proposed facility. The grant will bring the total funding programmed and/or reserved for the project to approximately $52,875,000, which is projected to be enough to fund Phase I which is designed to accelerate access to passenger rail service and includes the rail platform, railroad crossing, new rail siding and parking area. Phase II will consist of the station building. The project is currently in the design process, and the city is seeking approvals from Union Pacific.

TIRCP has provided more than $11.5 billion in funding to 153 projects since 2015, funded primarily from Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, Cap-and-Trade program proceeds and the General Fund.

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