HDR helps Orange County Transportation Authority secure FTA Grant

Omaha, Neb. — The Orange County Transportation Authority received a $149 million Full Funding Grant Agreement from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for the OC Streetcar Project in Orange County, Calif. This is the first modern streetcar to receive a New Starts FFGA and the largest ever New Starts commitment to a streetcar project.

HDR is the project management consultant for this 4.1-mile streetcar line connecting passengers with major activity centers and multimodal transportation services in the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove. Residents and visitors are expected to be able to use the new streetcar starting in late 2021.

As the project management consultant, HDR’s services include reviewing all designs for guideway, stations, systems and utilities for the fleet of eight modern, low-floor streetcars expected to carry an estimated 7,300 riders per day. The team is also providing environmental documentation, risk assessment, funding analysis and cost estimating. The HDR team led the fast-tracked development of supporting material for a New Starts grant from the Federal Transit Administration, developing the project’s FTA New Starts evaluation and ratings templates and submitting them in fewer than three months.

“The result that OCTA has achieved relative to the award of this largest ever New Starts commitment for a modern streetcar is another testament to HDR’s leadership and expertise in the federal funding arena, and demonstrates, once again, why clients across North America value HDR as their trusted advisor and partner,” said Tom Waldron, HDR’s global transit director.

“HDR’s work to help OCTA refine the scope, schedule and budget during project development were key to submitting a competitive project as demonstrated by the medium-high rating in the New Starts process,” adds Mark McLaren, HDR’s program manager on the project.