Federal Transit Administration officials announced Thursday they will allocate $300 million toward BART's Transbay Corridor Core Capacity Project and advance it to the engineering phase.
The project will enable BART to increase the number of trains operating between San Francisco and Oakland through the Transbay Tube and add more cars to trains operating during rush hour. BART currently runs 213 cars every hour in each direction through the tube and is working to expand that number to 300.
This new development brings BART closer to getting the full $1.7 billion it is requesting in federal funding.
"Our regional economy is intricately tied to our ability to move more people through this corridor," BART General Manager Grace Crunican said.
The total cost of the project is $3.5 billion, with about $1.5 billion in local funds already committed.
