As work continues in full swing on construction of the OC Streetcar, the project reached another important milestone with the OCTA board approval of a contract for operations and maintenance for $45 million with Herzog Transit Services Inc.

The OC Streetcar will run on a 4.1-mile route through Santa Ana and Garden Grove. It is scheduled to begin testing and operations in 2022.

Herzog, which also has extensive experience with the streetcar vehicle that will run on the OC Streetcar line, was selected as the top firm from among three qualified bidders. The contract includes a pre-revenue period of approximately 17 months, with an initial five-year revenue-operations term and two, two-year options.

The Orange County Transportation Authority, which is leading construction of the project, continues to work closely with officials from the Federal Transit Administration, which awarded a $149 million federal funding grant to the project in late 2018, allowing construction to begin.

Along with other federal money, that funding is expected to pay for more than half of the $408 million project. Other funds come from the state and from Measure M, Orange County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, also known as OC Go.

The OC Streetcar route will serve Santa Ana’s thriving downtown and dense employment areas that include county and local government offices and courthouses in the Civic Center. The streetcar will carry passengers between the busy Santa Ana transit center and a transit stop at Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove, running along Santa Ana Boulevard, Fourth Street, and the Pacific Electric right-of-way and connecting with OCTA’s busiest bus routes.

Six vehicles — with two spares — will operate daily, making stops at 10 locations in each direction every 10 to 15 minutes. Manufacturing of the Siemens S700 streetcar vehicles began last fall.