Santa Cruz County Grand Jury • 2026-2027

The Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line

Published: June 27, 2026 28 pages
Ver PDF original

Findings 17 findings

F1
The physical condition of the infrastructure on the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, including embankments and bridges dating to the 1870s, has degraded over time. As a result, any e_orts to utilize the rail corridor face high costs for restoring and replacing degraded infrastructure. R1,
F2
The RTC’s history and culture are that of a planning agency. As a result, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission has performed a long series of planning studies that have focused on the potential uses of the rail corridor, with less focus directed towards managing the realities of the physical corridor and its associated infrastructure. R1, R2
F3
Early studies commissioned by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission failed to accurately estimate the actual cost to build out passenger rail infrastructure along the rail corridor. As a result, significant decisions were made without a complete understanding of the cost to complete a passenger rail system. R1, R2
F4
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) lacks su_icient financial resources to accomplish all its transportation priorities and is typically reliant on grant funding to support its projects. As a result, the RTC must e_iciently manage project sequencing and contracting and be strategic about how it uses local transportation funding. R1, R2, R3
F5
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) lacks a unified strategic plan that lays out the commission’s vision for delivering capital projects and allocating limited local and grant funds. As a result, the RTC lacks a true north that it can refer back to when making these di_icult decisions. R3
F6
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) and the larger community in Santa Cruz County have had many ideas for how to use the rail corridor, but no overarching vision. As a result, the RTC has been gripped by political paralysis, swinging back and forth as its political makeup has changed, rather than remaining directly focused on implementing a specific aspect of the project. R3
F7
The Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line traverses a narrow and geographically constrained route between Davenport and Pajaro Junction. As a result, there is limited space for construction of both rail and pedestrian infrastructure in the corridor and the cost to construct this infrastructure is elevated relative to otherwise comparable projects. R4
F8
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) purchased the rail corridor with Proposition116 funds allocated by the California Transportation (CTC), which was initially skeptical of the RTC e_orts to acquire the rail corridor and required additional documentation and assurances. As a result, the RTC agreed to plan for and work to implement rail along the SCBRL or return $11 million in Prop 116 funding used to purchase the corridor. R4
F9
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) has operated under the assumption that the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line would eventually host both passenger rail and coastal rail trail infrastructure. As a result, the RTC has prioritized building trail segments in an “ultimate” configuration (trail next to rail) to reduce long-term costs associated with relocating the trail infrastructure to accommodate passenger rail instead of an “interim” alignment (trail over rail) that is less expensive in the short term. R4
F10
Inflation and unanticipated engineering requirements have dramatically increased cost estimates associated with building the “ultimate” configuration (trail next to rail). As a result, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) has been forced to shift its focus to an “interim” alignment (trail over rail) for some segments to preserve grant funding that has already been allocated. R4
F11
The Zero Emissions Passenger Rail and Trail (ZEPRT) Concept Report, which marks the first study of passenger rail on the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line to incorporate significant engineering rigor into its analysis, found the cost to build a passenger rail system of $4.3 billion to be an order of magnitude higher than previous estimates. As a result, the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) and the larger community have been forced to re-evaluate the current feasibility of building a passenger rail system in Santa Cruz County. R5
F12
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) does not have direct experience building rail infrastructure. As a result, the RTC worked with outside rail transportation professionals to perform a peer-review on the Zero Emissions Passenger Rail and Trail (ZEPRT) Concept Report to provide subject matter expertise and advice. R5
F13
The property ownership experience and project capacity of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) sta_ at the time the RTC acquired the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line did not align with the requirements to maintain and build infrastructure on the rail corridor. As a result, the RTC relied on consultants and studies with insu_icient engineering scope as it worked to develop expertise, manage its obligations and plan for next steps. R6
F14
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) sta_ model has historically reflected its role as a planning agency rather than a project delivery organization. As a result, the RTC’s sta_ capacity was not aligned to its mandate to build infrastructure on the rail corridor. R6
F15
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) has historically failed to e_ectively communicate to the public complete and accurate information regarding the financial, engineering and legal challenges associated with building infrastructure on the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, including during the 2022 Measure D election campaign. As a result, competing advocacy groups have produced misleading information, and the public has lacked a source for timely, objective, and authoritative information. R7
F16
The twelve-member board of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission has an even number of commissioners. As a result, the board is vulnerable to tied votes and deadlock, delaying proactive governance. R8
F17
The twelve-member board of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission draws its membership from a wide range of jurisdictions and the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transportation District, as well as their alternates, often with competing agendas. As a result, it is di_icult to achieve consensus, build institutional knowledge, and make timely progress to utilize the rail corridor. R8

Recommendations 8