What is the Rail Trail?
2. How can the Rail Trail Become a Reality? The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (SCCRTC) has agreed to purchase the rail corridor from Union Pacific. The SCCRTC must now access funding sources for the purchase 3. How Will the SCCRTC pay for the corridor? The most logical way is to use $11 million dollars of State Prop 116 funds. 116 was approved by voters in 1990, and Santa Cruz County taxpayers have been paying into the 116 rail fund since that time (14 years). They can now reclaim their rail transportation money, as many counties in California have already done. In order to qualify for Prop 116 funds, the SCCRTC must implement some form of passenger/recreational rail service. A recreational train running from Capitola to Aptos has been proposed and studied for both financial and environmental impacts. The SCCRTC can match the 116 funding with $10 million of STIP funds, which have already been allocated. 4. What impacts will the proposed tourist train have on the
