“No other state has a supply chain as critical to the national and global economy as California,” Newsom said. “These investments — unprecedented in scope and scale — will modernize our ports, reduce pollution, eliminate bottlenecks, and create a more dynamic distribution network.”
The $1.2 billion will fund 15 projects, creating an estimated 20,000 jobs and increasing the capacity to move goods throughout the state’s global trade gateways while lessening environmental impacts on neighboring communities. Administered by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), $350 million was also awarded to 13 projects that eliminate street-level rail crossings to make critical lifesaving safety improvements, reduce emissions, and keep goods and people moving.
“CalSTA’s ‘Core Four’ priorities are safety, climate action, equity, and economic prosperity, and the strategic investments announced ... shine in all those areas,” said Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin during an event announcing the awards at the Port of Long Beach. “These awards — a direct result of Governor Newsom’s visionary leadership — will help maintain our state’s competitive edge in our nation-leading supply chain infrastructure and will create a cleaner, safer, and more efficient goods movement system that will have a lasting positive impact for the people of California. The historic level of state funding also puts these projects in a stronger position to compete for significant federal infrastructure dollars from the Biden-Harris Administration.”
Projects receiving funding will help boost capacity to move goods through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the busiest ports in the Western Hemisphere — as well as enhance all major trade centers throughout the state, from San Diego to the Central Valley to the Bay Area. The grade separation projects, the majority of which are funded through the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, will improve safety and reduce conflicts and delays at railroad crossings, helping enhance the state’s freight and passenger rail systems.
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The funding — particularly the investments in zero-emission projects, which account for nearly 40% of the Port and Freight Infrastructure Program awards — builds on a partnership between the governments of California and Japan announced this March to collaborate on strategies to cut planet-warming pollution at seaports and establish green shipping corridors as part of the state’s broader strategy to aggressively combat and adapt to climate change. The investments also follow the California Transportation Commission’s recent approval of $1.1 billion for infrastructure improvements on high-volume freight corridors as part of the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program — for a total state investment in supply chain infrastructure of more than $2.6 billion.
The awards are a direct result of the executive order Newsom issued in October 2021 that called on state agencies to develop longer term budget proposals that support port operations and goods movement, building off the successful short-term actions by the state to address supply chain congestion.
