ACTA's diverse funding.

Highlighting widespread support for the project, the $2.4 billion Alameda Corridor was funded through a uniquely diverse combination of public and private financing.

The centerpiece of the funding package was $1.16 billion in revenue bonds sold by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) to private investors in early 1999. Principal and interest on the bonds will be retired with revenues from fees collected from railroads for use of the Alameda Corridor.

Other sources of funding include a $400 million loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation (to be repaid from railroad user fees); $394 million from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles (principally for rights-of-way acquired from the railroads); $347 million administered by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and $130 million in various state and federal sources and interest income.

The strong demand for the bonds reflects the financial strength of the project, and the project's need, ACTA Chief Financial Officer Dean Martin said

"Private investors were interested in the bonds because we were able to demonstrate that cargo volumes would be increasing at a rate sufficient to pay off the bonds," Martin said. "In fact, the volume of containers moving through ports is increasing at a rate even greater than what we projected before the bond sale."