The Sacramento Transportation Authority on Oct. 9 authorized the executive director to submit a letter describing Sacramento Countywide priorities and to allow STA to submit or co‑submit applications for the Sacramento Area Council of Governments’ 2025 regional project prioritization process.

Kevin Busey, STA staff leading the item, told the board SACOG’s process ranks projects across six counties to identify top candidates for various grant categories, including federal discretionary programs, SB 1 funding streams and projects in development. Busey said SACOG endorsement yields technical assistance, application review, data support and regional advocacy that can make local projects more competitive.

Busey outlined the evaluation criteria SACOG applies — alignment with the 2025 Metropolitan Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy, regional significance, competitiveness for the grant and project readiness — and described the schedule: professional advisory group briefings in October, initial applications due roughly a week later, a countywide consensus and letter to SACOG in November and SACOG’s final prioritization in December. He said SB 1 project prioritization for the current cycle is calendared later, with some SB 1 steps occurring in 2026.

Board members discussed which agencies to include in advisory discussions and whether STA should serve as applicant or co‑applicant on multi‑agency projects. Director Dickinson suggested adding representatives from the Capital Corridor/Valley Rail and Amtrak/San Joaquins to advisory conversations so projects such as the Placer‑Sacramento gateway and the third mainline track to Roseville are considered. Busey said STA has sometimes included Valley Rail in prior cycles and that the agency can invite other rail stakeholders.

Busey and board members named illustrative projects that could benefit from prioritization and from STA participation: a managed‑lanes project he described as “Sac 5 managed lanes” (a Caltrans project also tied to Measure A funding), a farm‑to‑market route study in South Sacramento County that crosses city boundaries (Elk Grove, Galt and Isleton were cited), and the Stockton Boulevard multi‑modal BRT corridor (applicants identified as County of Sacramento, City of Sacramento and SacRT). He said STA is not asking for additional budget resources to support the prioritization work and that the agency’s administrative budget will absorb the staff time.

A motion to authorize the executive director to submit the countywide priorities letter and to submit applications for multi‑agency projects was moved and seconded; the board approved the motion unanimously by the members present. No members of the public spoke on the item.

STA staff said they will work with member agencies and SACOG staff to finalize the countywide priority list and to decide on STA’s role as applicant or co‑applicant on specific projects.