On Thursday, the Transbay Transit Center Project reached an important milestone as the credit council in Washington D.C., recommended to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary the unanimous approval of a $171 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan for the project.

Based on sound financing and credit reviews, which require an investment grade credit rating, the loan will help fund 14 percent of the project's phase I capital costs to build the new $4 billion Transit Center in downtown San Francisco. The project is funded through local, state and federal funding sources.

"We are very grateful to the council for this unanimous recommendation of approval," said Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan, Executive Director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA). "This important step will help us move the project forward and bring to fruition the largest, fully approved transportation project in the country."

The Transbay Transit Center Project, which will replace the current Transbay Terminal with a new, multi-modal transportation center and centralize the region's transportation network by accommodating nine transportation systems under one roof, will make public transit a more convenient option in the Bay Area, much as it is in other world-class cities.

The three components of the project - replacing the outdated Transbay Terminal with a modern transit hub; extending the Caltrain rail line 1.3 miles into the heart of the Financial District; and redeveloping the area surrounding the Transbay Transit Center with 2,600 new homes (35 percent affordable), parks and a retail main street - will help to return San Francisco to a culture of mass transit, allowing people to travel and commute without the need for a car, thereby decreasing congestion and pollution.

The project broke ground on the temporary terminal in December 2008 and demolition of the current bus terminal is scheduled for February 2010.

For more info, visit www.transbaycenter.org