(a) Projects eligible for funding under the program include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Rail capital projects, including acquisition of rail cars and locomotives, that expand, enhance, and improve existing rail systems and connectivity to existing and future transit systems, including the high-speed rail system.

(2) Intercity, commuter, and urban rail projects that increase service levels, improve reliability, or decrease travel times, including infrastructure access payments to host railroads in lieu of capital investments.

(3) Rail, bus, and ferry integration implementation, including integrated ticketing and scheduling systems, shared-use corridors, related planning efforts, and other service integration initiatives.

(4) Bus rapid transit and other bus and ferry transit investments to increase ridership and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

(b) In order to be eligible for funding under the program, a project shall demonstrate that it will achieve a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases. In selecting projects for funding, the Transportation Agency shall consider the extent to which a project reduces emissions of greenhouse gases.

(c) The program shall have a programmatic goal of providing at least 25 percent of available funding to projects benefiting disadvantaged communities, consistent with the objectives of Chapter 830 of the Statutes of 2012.

(d) In evaluating grant applications for funding, the Transportation Agency shall consider all of the following:

(1) The cobenefits of projects that support the implementation of sustainable communities strategies through one or more of the following:

(A) Reducing vehicle miles traveled from automobiles and the number of automobile trips through growth in transit ridership.

(B) Promoting housing development in the vicinity of rail stations and major transit centers.

(C) Expanding existing rail and public transit systems.

(D) Enhancing the connectivity, integration, and coordination of the state’s various transit systems, including, but not limited to, regional and local transit systems and the high-speed rail system.

(E) Implementing clean vehicle technology.

(F) Promoting active transportation.

(G) Improving public health.

(2) The project priorities developed through the collaboration of two or more rail operators and any memoranda of understanding between state agencies and local or regional rail operators.

(3) Geographic equity.

(4) Consistency with an adopted sustainable communities strategy or, if a sustainable strategy is not required for a region by law, a regional plan that includes policies and programs to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

(5) The extent to which a project has supplemental funding committed to it from other nonstate sources.

(6) The extent to which the project will increase transit ridership.

(e) Eligible applicants under the program shall be public agencies, including joint powers agencies, that operate or have planning responsibility for existing or planned regularly scheduled intercity or commuter passenger rail service, urban rail transit service, or bus or ferry transit service.

(f) A recipient of moneys under the program may combine funding from the program with other state funding, including, but not limited to, the State Transportation Improvement Program, the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program, the State Air Resources Board clean vehicle program, and state transportation bond funds.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 710, Sec. 2. (SB 9) Effective January 1, 2016.)