California Association of Port Authorities (CAPA) President Danny Wan and executive directors of multiple CAPA ports joined California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) Secretary Toks Omishakin at two press conferences – at the Port of Oakland and the Port of Long Beach – to announce the release of the funds.
Today, CalSTA announced the award of more than $1.5 billion in funding as part of the state’s historic one-time program to build a more efficient, sustainable, and resilient supply chain. CalSTA awarded $1.2 billion in Port and Freight Infrastructure Program grants to projects statewide that will make long-term upgrades to increase the capacity to move goods throughout the state’s global trade gateways while lessening environmental impacts on neighboring communities.
CalSTA is also awarding $350 million to projects that eliminate at-grade rail crossings to improve safety, reduce emissions and keep goods and people moving. Combined, these unprecedented state investments will create an estimated 20,000 jobs.
“CalSTA’s ‘Core Four’ priorities are safety, climate action, equity, and economic prosperity, and the strategic investments announced today shine in all those areas,” said Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin during an event today announcing the awards at the Port of Long Beach. “These awards – a direct result of Governor Newsom’s visionary leadership – will help maintain our state’s competitive edge in our nation-leading supply chain infrastructure and will create a cleaner, safer, and more efficient goods movement system that will have a lasting positive impact for the people of California. The historic level of state funding also puts these projects in a stronger position to compete for significant federal infrastructure dollars from the Biden-Harris Administration.”
“California’s historic investment in the supply chain will help our public seaports get goods moving faster, create thousands of new jobs, and will keep us competitive in a challenging economic environment,” said CAPA President & Executive Director of the Port of Oakland Danny Wan. “California ports appreciate Secretary Omishakin’s and Governor Newsom’s continued leadership and partnership as we all work to improve and enhance our state’s supply chain.”
This morning, CalSTA hosted a press conference that featured Secretary Omishakin, Mario Cordero, Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach, Kristin Decas, CEO & Port Director of the Port of Hueneme, Joe Stuyvesant, President & CEO of the Port of San Diego, and David Libatique, Deputy Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, as well as various other Southern California policymakers.
At 3 pm, a second press conference will be held at the Port of Oakland, featuring Secretary Omishakin, Danny Wan, CAPA President & Executive Director of the Port of Oakland, Elaine Forbes, Executive Director of the Port of San Francisco, and Kirk DeJesus, Director of the Port of Stockton, along with many other elected officials and stakeholders.
The 11 major commercial ports that comprise the California Association of Port Authorities handle 38% of all containerized imports and 28% of all exports in the U.S. – reaching every corner of the country. Collectively, the California Ports are the most consequential system of ports in the nation.
