Senator Murray Announces Signing of Grant Agreement for Clark County Transit Project

Senator Murray announced the signing of a $25 million Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Small Starts Grant Agreement for the C-TRAN bus rapid transit project 

ICYMI: Senator Murray Secures American Rescue Plan Relief Funding for C-TRAN BRT Project – MORE HERE 

Senator Murray: “This funding will help get people where they need to go, and save local taxpayers money, and I’m going to keep working to see this project through and make sure the other Washington keeps listening to the people of our state.”

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced a new $25 million Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Small Start program agreement administered by the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) for the Clark County Public Transit Benefit Area Authority (C-TRAN) Mill Plain BRT project. Senator Murray has been a strong advocate for these CIG projects, writing letters of support and communicating to the administration directly on the importance of these projects to Washington state.

“One thing I hear in Vancouver and across our state is that people want more public transit options. Whether it’s to shorten commutes, decrease traffic, reduce emissions, create jobs, or make our communities more equitable, the demand for transit has been a constant refrain that I’ve heard loud and clear and taken back to the other Washington. This major investment in Vancouver’s bus rapid transit system shows the other Washington is listening,” said Senator Murray. “This funding will help get people where they need to go, and save local taxpayers money, and I’m going to keep working to see this project through and make sure the other Washington keeps listening to the people of our state.”

The CIG program is a discretionary funding program for the construction and expansion of new and existing fixed-guideway public transit systems such as heavy rail, light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit, streetcars, ferries, and certain corridor-based bus systems. Agencies applying to the CIG program work closely with the FTA through rigorous project development and engineering phases, after which the FTA decides whether to give the project a grant agreement and the corresponding federal dollars.

Vancouver, WA: Mill Plain Bus Rapid Transit Project

The new 10-mile Mill Plain BRT line would run along Mill Plain Boulevard, the agency’s second highest ridership transit corridor, and connect downtown Vancouver to east Vancouver. The BRT service would connect riders to several of the region’s key economic, medical and educational centers, including Clark College, Columbia Tech Center, Vancouver Clinic and PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. The route that currently serves the Mill Plain Boulevard corridor carried over 776,200 passengers in 2018. The implementation of a BRT line would allow C-TRAN to improve travel time and reliability along the Mill Plain corridor, where population and employment growth are increasing.

Senator Murray worked to include a 30% increase to the base CIG program in the bipartisan infrastructure bill that the Senate passed in August, which also provides a historic and supplementary $8 billion for CIG. Senator Murray has fought for months to increase funding for CIG and the various projects it supports, including Sound Transit’s Lynnwood and Federal Way Link Extension projects. Senator Murray will continue to fight to ensure that these critical projects receive the funding that they need from both CIG funding sources. A full list of current CIG projects can be found HERE. 

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray has consistently fought to increase and protect federal transportation and infrastructure grant programs, including the CIG program. Senator Murray has also been a strong advocate in Congress for securing and strengthening federal investments in Washington state transportation priorities, including previously helping Sound Transit secure a $1.4 billion commitment from the federal government to help fund the Federal Way light rail extension, making the project possible. Senator Murray was also instrumental in securing more than $1.2 billion in federal funding commitments for the Lynnwood Link extension project in 2018. Earlier this year, Senator Murray commended President Biden for recommending CIG allocations for two Washington state transit projects in his budget proposal.