Los Angeles-area rail project lands $1 billion federal grant

The Federal Transportation Agency (FTA) will cover half the cost of a $2 billion automated, elevated, fixed-guideway people mover in the city of Inglewood, California. The $1 billion comes from the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program, an initiative that supports rail, streetcar and bus rapid transit projects.

The 1.6-mile Inglewood Transit Connector (ITC) will address a “first/last” mile transportation gap between the Metro K Line and Inglewood’s major employment and destination centers. The ITC will provide service every 6 minutes between 5 a.m. and midnight seven days a week.

The line will have three stations and shuttle up to 11,000 riders hourly. The ITC is projected to have a ridership of 4,300 daily linked trips and 2.1 million annual linked trips by 2040, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation project summary. In addition to building the guideway and stations, the city will buy 24 vehicles.

Last year, the FTA gave the project a positive rating following a review of its costs, ridership potential and community support. The agency approved the engineering phase in October, which is the second-to-last step in the evaluation process.

The ITC Joint Powers Authority (JPA), a partnership between Inglewood and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, will own, manage and oversee the project. To date, the city has secured $873 million in local, state and federal funds for the project, according to a release.

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