The North County Transit District (NCTD) and San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) was awarded a grant request of $106 million from the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to fund trade corridor enhancements in the San Diego region.

The award follows the recent release of a San Diego Pathing study outlining how to phase expansion of passenger and freight rail services along the Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) rail corridor, the second busiest rail corridor in the nation. In a typical year, the LOSSAN rail corridor moves approximately $1 billion of freight and over eight million rail passengers.

The $106 million grant provides critical funding for a $202 million program of projects for the San Diego portion of the LOSSAN rail corridor. SANDAG will be responsible for implementing the program of projects, which includes stabilizing the 1.7 miles of coastal bluffs within the City of Del Mar, expanding COASTER service to the Downtown San Diego Convention Center, and other rail line improvements. The program was developed as part of the Pathing study funded by NCTD and BNSF Railway.

“We are excited and grateful to the California Transportation Commission for selecting the region’s grant application for funding. The funding will support critical state of good repair and capacity enhancing projects that will increase transit ridership and rail freight movement,” said Tony Kranz, NCTD board chair and Encinitas councilmember. “The funding of these projects will also create local jobs and help boost our economy which has been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

With the grant from the CTC, NCTD and its rail partners will work together with SANDAG, LOSSAN Corridor Agency, California State Transportation Agency, and other key stakeholders to identify the funds needed to implement the remaining phases of unfunded projects included in the Pathing Study.