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San Jose, Calif.— The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) was awarded two Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grants for the Silicon Valley Rapid Transit (SVRT) Project, a 16.1-mile extension of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) to Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara.   In addition, the FTA gave approval through a Notice of Intent (NOI) for VTA to prepare a federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposed BART Extension.   The NOI was published in the Federal Register on Friday, September 21, 2007. 

The two federal grants totaling $8.85 million were appropriated by Congress under the New Starts Program in the FY05 and FY06 federal transportation spending bills. VTA submitted applications in early 2007 and worked cooperatively with the FTA to obtain the release of these funds, which will be used to reimburse VTA for preliminary engineering (PE) work related to the BART Extension.

“These grant awards are critical milestones that propel us forward on this vital project,” said VTA Board Chair Dean Chu, who was pleased to hear the news from Washington.   “Bringing BART to Santa Clara County will help fulfill our long-term vision for a complete and effective transportation system in the Bay Area Region that will relieve traffic congestion and provide the foundation for smart growth in the future.”

The publishing of the NOI by the FTA in the Federal Register is the first step in kicking off the federal environmental review process.   The EIS for the BART Extension will be prepared in accordance with federal requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).   The original combined draft of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) required by the state and federal EIS was issued to the public in 2004.  Subsequent to the public review period, VTA chose to pursue federal and state environmental clearance of the project on separate paths.  The VTA Board of Directors certified the Final EIR in June 2007.

The EIS will now incorporate changes identified in the project, environmental settings and funding considerations.   This process will explore the environmental and community impacts of the project and design alternatives as well as discuss actions to reduce or eliminate the effects of these impacts.   This Final EIS will require FTA review and approval.

“The release of the New Starts grant funds and the approval of the Notice of Intent by the FTA demonstrates a continued interest on the part of the federal government in the BART Extension,” Chu said.   “While we still have issues, these actions show that we are making progress in terms of working cooperatively with the FTA to resolve them.”

The Silicon Valley Rapid Transit Corridor project is part of Santa Clara County’s 2000 Measure A Program. This measure passed with an overwhelming majority vote of 70.4 percent, affirming Santa Clara County’s desire to bring BART to Milpitas, San Jose and Santa Clara.

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About VTA
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is an independent special district responsible for bus, light rail and paratransit operations; congestion management; specific highway improvement projects; and countywide transportation planning. As such, VTA is both an accessible transit provider and multi-modal transportation planning organization involved with transit, highways and roadways, bikeways and pedestrian facilities.

For more information about VTA services, call VTA Customer Service at (408) 321-2300, (408) 321-2330 (TDD only). Or, log on to www.vta.org.