Supervisor Barger Supports Center for Transportation Technology Excellence

Metrolink (Photo – metrolinktrains.com)

On Wednesday, February 28, L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger announced she has given $500,000 from Fifth District discretionary funding to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro for the proposed Center for Transportation Technology Excellence.

By News Desk

The Center would be a first-of-its-kind in the United States, a 2-million square foot facility for rail car and bus manufacturing, testing, research, and development.

The Center also has the potential to generate $11.5 billion in economic returns and over 114,300 direct and indirect jobs, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

“This is a project of national significance that has the power to transform the Antelope Valley through billions of dollars in estimated economic returns and by creating over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “This local contribution will help the project keep its momentum forward, so that critical project planning and development tasks can be completed.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors supported the Center in January. LA Metro, a party to the recent MOU and the project lead, aims to match the Supervisor’s contribution. Stephanie Wiggins, CEO of Metro, said “In the next 40 years, we’ll be purchasing hundreds of Buy America-compliant zero-emission buses and rail cars. We want as many as possible to be manufactured and tested right here in Los Angeles County, and the Center for Transportation Technology Excellence will help us do just that. This funding, along with a matching $500,000 from Metro, will be used to advance the Feasibility Study to unlock more than 100,000 jobs for our region. We look forward to continuing to work with Director Barger and the rest of the Study Partners to make this game changing project a reality.”