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  5. Chapter 3

Highlights from Chapter 3:

Funding and Costs

Securing funding from all available sources is a necessary and critical step to achieve our goal of delivering high-speed passenger rail service. State and local funding alone are not enough to achieve our goal, and federal support continues to be as important today as it has been in the past. What has changed is the federal funding landscape. This chapter outlines current state funding the Authority has already secured, as well as federal funding that has been secured and possible additional future sources. It presents a brief history of high-speed rail funding in the context of other transportation modes and also discusses potential opportunities for local and regional funding and the current state of private-sector finance.

This chapter also presents updated cost estimates for the 171-mile high-speed rail segment connecting Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield, as well as a detailed cost estimate for the 119 miles between Madera and Poplar Avenue in the Central Valley where construction is well underway. Cost estimates for Northern and Southern California, including an updated estimate for the San Francisco to San José project section, are presented, as is a revised estimate for the full 500-mile system linking San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim.

Currently Available, Authorized and Future Funding

chart showing available, authorized and future funding

Text description of Currently Available, Authorized and Future Funding

Overview

This chart provides an overview of the current and projected funding available to the program through 2030. It provides a summary overview and component elements of the available funding. The total amount of identified revenue for the capital program is currently estimated in the range of $23.5 billion to $25.2 billion, assuming a Cap-and-Trade annual revenue range of $750 million to about $1.0 billion per year.

$17.4 billion in currently available funds includes $3.5 billion in ARRA, FY 10, RAISE and brownfields federal dollars, $5.4 billion Cap-and-Trade actual funding through Nov. 2022 and $8.5 billion Prop 1A appropriated funds. Future Cap-and-Trade funding ranges from $6.0 billion to $7.7 billion. There is an $8.0 billion target for future federal grant dollars.

Key Facts

The total amount of identified revenue for the capital cost program is currently estimated in the range of $23.5 billion to $25.2 billion, assuming a Cap-and-Trade annual rev­enue range of $750 million to $1.0 billion per year.

As part of the 2022 Budget Agreement, Cap-and- Trade funds are prioritized for existing commitments and for finishing the Merced to Bakersfield segment.
Our costs for the Merced to Bakersfield segment are estimated between $32.1 billion and $35.3 billion.
We still consider the federal government to be a critical partner in the ongoing development of the California high-speed rail system. As the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) was proposed, and then passed, we have been highly focused on understanding and analyzing the funding programs within it that could provide further resources to program expansion. The result is an Authority federal funding strategy that aligns very closely to federal policy goals and that we believe can meaningfully contribute to the further development of this program.

Summary of Federal Funding Roadmap

 

Text description of Summary of Federal Funding Roadmap

Overview

The Authority’s federal funding roadmap summarizes the federal grants received to date and the target for new federal funding under the BIL grant opportunities through 2026. It shows $3.5 billion received from 2009 through 2016 from two past primary funding programs ARRA and FY10. Over the last two years another $49 million has been received from two RAISE grant awards. The goal is to reach up to an additional $8.0 billion through multiple federal awards from future RAISE, Federal/State Partnership, Corridor Identification and Development, RCE, CRISI and MEGA grant programs under the BIL. Currently, $303 million has been requested under pending RCE and CRISI grant opportunities.

More Information

Learn more about the California High-Speed Rail program and project update report online at https://www.hsr.ca.gov/ or contact the Board of Directors at (916) 324-1541 or boardmembers@hsr.ca.gov.

Download the Report

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