COUNTYWIDE : Rail Endowment Gets Tentative OK

In a move toward providing for covering the operating costs of expanded commuter rail service, the Orange County Transportation Commission on Monday tentatively approved a plan to create a Commuter and Urban Rail Endowment that could generate up to $10 million a year.

The fund will be modeled after university endowments, in which interest earned on a major grant or gift is used to pay for an academic position. In this case, the endowment would be funded by money earmarked for various transportation projects.

The endowment proposed would earn enough interest to cover the annual costs for operating additional trains along the Los Angeles-San Diego corridor and for establishing new service between Riverside and Orange County.

OCTC Executive Director Stanley T. Oftelie said rail funds from Measure M alone deposited into the endowment would earn interest totaling several million dollars.

Measure M, which voters approved last November, will impose a half-cent countywide sales tax for traffic improvements. It becomes effective April 1.

Measure M will help pay for the purchase of rail cars but not operating costs, which are about $1 million a year for each commuter train.

Oftelie said the commission could also redirect money earmarked for some street and highway improvements into the endowment account as Measure M revenue becomes available to finance those projects.

Another potential source, Oftelie said, is the $25 million in OCTC funds once earmarked for the installation of car-pool lanes on the Orange Freeway. That project will now be built with money from bonds that will eventually be paid off through Measure M.

A detailed final plan will not be adopted for a month or two, officials said.