TJPA board hears portal construction update, adopts budget and several contract extensions

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority board on June 12 received an update on the Downtown Rail Extension (the portal), including a revised schedule tied to funding timelines, and approved the agency's fiscal year 2025-26 operating and capital budgets and several contract and personnel actions.

Board members heard project director Alfonso Rodriguez say the program has begun preparatory right-of-way steps and is advancing design and procurement work ahead of construction, but that delays in securing the local share for construction funding are pushing the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) revenue-service target. "When we worked with the FTA in Entry to Engineering, we developed a cost estimate, a schedule, that includes all of our construction activity," Rodriguez said, and later noted the board's revised target revenue-service date is "02/1935," citing updated construction-cost and schedule assumptions shared with the FTA.

The board adopted a FY26 operating budget of $27,853,000, a capital budget of $143,449,861 and a debt-service budget of $27,682,594, and approved a five-year capital improvement plan for FY26–FY30. Chief Financial Officer Shima Mirza told directors the final numbers were unchanged from the May draft except for small realignments in operating reimbursements and a $500,000 annual capital contribution from AC Transit to reduce reliance on the capital replacement reserve.

Why it matters: The portal connects regional rail to the Salesforce Transit Center and requires coordinated federal, state and local funding. The board's approvals advance the agency toward contract procurements and the enabling works that must precede heavy construction, but staff cautioned the schedule will depend on securing a full funding grant agreement and local-share commitments.

Key details - Right-of-way outreach: Staff said letters notifying property owners about subsurface easement requests will mail later in June; responses will inform future actions at the Port Commission and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors needed to begin utility relocation on Townsend Street in early 2027. - Procurement and delivery: TJPA will release the 40CT (veil and tunnel) progressive design-build request for proposals in the next fiscal year and stand up an Integrated Project Delivery Team (IPDT) co-located with Caltrain and the California High-Speed Rail Authority to coordinate design, risk and construction sequencing. - Schedule and FTA: Staff reported that updating construction cost estimates and schedule led to a shift in the revenue-service target shared with FTA. Rodriguez said the agency is aiming to begin utility-relocation enabling works as early as the first part of 2027, subject to funding and agreements with Caltrain for site access. - Monthly reporting: Starting in July, TJPA will provide a monthly project report that uses a project-management information system to show cost, expenditures, forecasting and trends.

Votes at a glance - Consent calendar (items 8.1—6): approved by roll call with all voting members recorded as "Aye." (Roll call recorded at 44:10—5:28 in the transcript.) - Appointment to Citizens Advisory Committee (item 9): Henry Karnilewicz appointed to fill the citywide San Francisco business seat; motion approved by roll call. (Vote recorded at 45:12—5:56.) - Lease amendment with SFMTA for bus plaza operations (item 10): board authorized the executive director to execute an amendment to the SFMTA lease; vote passed with Director Kirschbaum recorded as recused. (Vote recorded at 46:76—6:90.) - FY26 operating and capital budgets and five-year CIP (item 11): adopted; roll call passed with Director Chang recorded absent. (Vote recorded at 55:96—6:11.) - Amendment to Allied Universal unarmed security services contract (item 12): the board authorized a one-year extension; vote passed by roll call. (Vote recorded at 57:69—7:90.) - Parsons general engineering consultant agreement extension (item 14): board approved a no-cost contract extension of 92 calendar days to Sept. 30, 2025; vote passed by roll call. (Vote recorded at 70:86—1:04.)

What the board asked for next: Directors requested clearer monthly reports and a work-plan-level companion to the budget to show the portal procurement, governance (change-control board and other project committees), and preconstruction milestones. Several directors asked staff to continue breaking work packages into smaller, SBE/DBE-accessible scopes and to return with detailed dispute-resolution and integrated delivery documentation.

Where this goes next: Staff said it will continue to seek the remaining local-share funding and complete permitting and right-of-way steps; the board will see the monthly program report beginning in July and additional contract amendments and procurement recommendations later this fiscal year.