The Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) was created by Senate Bill (SB) 862 (Chapter 36, Statutes of 2014) and modified by SB 9 (Chapter 710, Statutes of 2015), to provide grants from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to fund capital improvements that will modernize California’s intercity rail, commuter rail, and urban rail systems, and bus and ferry transit systems to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, vehicle miles traveled, and congestion. The legislation of these bills is established in Sections 75220 through 75225 of the Public Resources Codes (PRC). Assembly Bill 398 (Chapter 135, Statutes of 2017),) extended the Cap and Trade Program that supports the TIRCP from 2020 through 2030. SB 1 (Chapter 5, Statutes of 2017) provides funding from the Public Transportation Account to fund new programming to achieve the following objectives:

• Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions;
• Expand and improve transit service to increase ridership;
• Integrate the rail service of the state’s various rail operations, including integration with the high-speed rail system
• Improve transit safety

The California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) prepares the program’s guidelines and selects projects for funding. The California Transportation Commission’s role is to allocate the funds to awarded projects and monitor their milestones after allocation.