DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, FTA Administrator Peter M. Rogoff, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently joined San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee to present the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) with a $942.2 million Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for the Central Subway project.

 

The agreement finalizes the financing for extending the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) Metro’s T Third Line through the South of Market, Union Square, and Chinatown neighborhoods. 

 
“This historic investment in San Francisco’s modern public transportation system will not only connect our city’s diverse neighborhoods and create thousands of jobs today, but it will vastly improve our transit system for our city’s growing population and workforce,” the mayor said at the signing event, held at the future site of the subway line’s Union Square/Market Street Station.

 

“When the Central Subway is complete, our city will see a stronger economy, a larger workforce, decreased pollution, less congestion, and faster, safer commutes,” Pelosi added. “Working with partners and leaders from government, business, and the community, this project will serve as an economic engine for our city, improve and enhance our infrastructure, and connect the diverse communities of San Francisco.”

 

The FFGA will help fund construction of the subway tunnels, subway stations, surface-level stations, train tracks, and operating systems that make up the service extension. New vehicles, utility relocation and project design, planning, and administration are also included in the total project cost.

 

Out of the total $942.2 million in the FFGA, the Central Subway project has received $94.2 million in New Starts funds. The remainder will be distributed in annual allocations as the project progresses.

 

The second phase of the two-phase Third Street Light Rail Project, the Central Subway is expected to cost about $1.6 billion; state and local funding sources will cover the balance beyond the FFGA.

 

SFMTA projects that, with the opening of the Central Subway, the T Third Line will become the most heavily used line in the Muni Metro system by 2030. About 65,000 customers per day are projected to ride the T Third Line in that year—about 20 percent more than are projected to ride the most heavily used existing Muni Metro line, the N Judah Line.

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, at podium, joins other officials and community leaders in present the FFGA for San Francisco’s Central Subway project.