For San Diego MTS, $140.4MM ARP Grant

MTS Trolley, which launched in 1981, is now a 54.3-mile system with four lines (UC San Diego Blue, Orange, Sycuan Green, and SDG&E Silver) and 54 stations. (Photo: Courtesy of Siemens Mobility)

The Federal Transit Administration has awarded the San Diego (Calif.) Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) a $140.4 million grant under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021.

The grant for San Diego MTS is part of more than $30 billion for public transportation in the ARP Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law on March 11. The funding—intended to help transit agencies maintain service and jobs as communities continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic—comes from the $26.6 billion allocated by statutory formulas to urban and rural areas, and tribal governments, and for the enhanced mobility of seniors and individuals with disabilities, according to FTA. The Act also included $2.2 billion for additional transit pandemic-associated need, which will be awarded later this year, FTA reported. No local share is required for this funding.

FTA also recently awarded ARP grants to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ($859.6 million); Orange County (Calif.) Transportation Authority ($163.9 million); New Jersey Transit ($255.7 million); San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District ($330.8 million); Denver (Colo.) Regional Transportation District ($304.2 million); Houston Metro ($298.6 million); and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency ($288.2 million).

“As our nation’s transit systems recover from COVID-19, the American Rescue Plan funds ensure that they continue to provide service to the many Americans who depend on transit to get to essential jobs, healthcare and vaccine appointments,” FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez said.

In other developments, San Diego MTS marked the 40th anniversary of the Trolley—a 54.3-mile system with four lines (UC San Diego Blue, Orange, Sycuan Green, and SDG&E Silver) and 54 stations—this summer.