Monterey-Salinas Transit will be getting less federal money than expected for SURF! busway.

The plot thickens for Monterey-Salinas Transit’s SURF! project, which the California Coastal Commission approved Sept. 12, with a number of conditions. Because of those conditions, MST missed its Sept. 15 deadline with the Federal Transit Administration to secure the $35.5 million of federal funding it was expecting, as that funding was contingent on clearing all those conditions, something that was not possible.

MST finally submitted all its permits to the FTA Nov. 15, two months too late. This came after MST, on Nov. 14, increased its ask from the FTA’s Capital Investment Grant program from $35.5 million – an ask MST made in July – to $46.17 million, in order to cover the costs of meeting the Coastal Commission’s conditions.

But on Nov. 19, the FTA communicated to MST that only the original $22.17 million already approved would be available before a new administration takes office in Washington. “Of course, FTA staff would not just take our word regarding eligibility for additional funds but would need to conduct an independent evaluation utilizing MST supplied information,” MST General Manager Carl Sedoryk writes via email. He adds that MST was informed that any additional funding requests would require additional analysis and approval “that would need to go all the way to the office of the Secretary of Transportation.”

MST opted to take the original $22 million, and use money from State Senate Bill 125 to fill the funding gap.

SB 125, which was signed into law in 2023, calls for distributing more than $2.2 billion to various transportation agencies around the state. The board of the Transportation Agency for Monterey County voted last year to allocate 50 percent (or $26 million) of its SB 125 money to MST.

On Nov. 25, MST’s board approved spending the entirety of that funding, plus another $2 million in capital reserves, to make up the shortfall for the SURF! project.

MST’s updated budget for the project, as presented on Nov. 25, is now over $105 million, about a $13 million increase from its assessment this fall.

With the SB 125 money, the project is now fully funded, at least in the current budget estimate.

Meanwhile, SURF! is facing a federal lawsuit, filed on Nov. 30 by the owners of Museum of Handcar Technology, a small business that led handcar tours on the Monterey Branch rail line until their lease expired this fall. They sued TAMC and the City of Marina, alleging the company’s First Amendment rights had been violated when TAMC declined to renew its sublease.

The company’s owner and founder, Todd Clark, is the person who brought to light that TAMC failed its obligations to the state to use the tracks for rail per its 2003 agreement when receiving over $9 million in Prop. 116 funds to buy the tracks. (TAMC’s board, on Dec. 4, approved entering into an agreement with the California Transportation Commission wherein TAMC's Prop. 116 obligations to the state for the cost of the Monterey Branch line would be made whole by spending at least $16.8 million on other rail projects in the county.)

Clark claims that his sublease was not renewed as a result of him speaking out about those funds.

---

Correction 12/12/24: This article has been corrected to reflect that TAMC is not paying back money to the state, rather, the agency will be credited for the amount they spend on local rail projects.