Stanislaus County is getting on board as a “self-help” county when it comes to road and transit funding.
The passages of Measure L — a countywide half cent sales tax similar to San Joaquin County’s Measure M — means Stanislaus County can leverage state transportation funds.
Manteca Mayor Steve DeBrum who chairs the San Joaquin Council of Governments that oversees Measure K’s implementation noted it’s a good sign for the region.
“It’s all about the movement of people and goods,” DeBrum noted.
The Stanislaus County tax is expected to raise $960 million over the next 25 years. Much of it would repair existing road and build new travel corridors. Seven percent would go to transit including $13 million to connect county residents with existing rail services.
 DeBrum noted the voters’ decision in Stanislaus County falls in line with the strategy to extend Altamont Corridor Service to Merced within the next five to 10 years.
That would mean stops in downtown Manteca, Ripon, Turlock, Livingston or Atwater, and Merced.
The extension is part of a $950 million ACE Forward plan crafted to initially expedite rail travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The extension to Merced will cost $550 million and essentially double track the existing Union Pacific Railroad corridor.
Merced is the initial northern terminus of the first section of high speed rail track. Ultimately high speed rail will head into the Bay Area via the Pacheco Pass and connect with CalTrains tracks to head up the Peninsula to San Francisco. That segment is expected to take significantly longer to complete. Even after the Pacheco Pass to San Francisco route is completed, ACE will continue to provide key connections to high speed rail for Alameda and Contra Costa counties as well as the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
ACE Forward was born after the California High Speed Rail Commission opted to get their service up and running by building high speed rail tracks between Merced and the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley. At those two points connections will be made with upgraded conventional rail service to reach the Los Angeles Basin and the San Francisco Bay Area. It is part of a blended system designed to get high speed rail service up and running within the next five to 10 years.
The new game plan that is being done in concert with the California High Speed Rail Authority will employ next generation higher speed diesel-powered engines, upgrade existing Union Pacific tracks between San Jose and Stockton to improve reliability and capacity, and will extend service to Merced.
It would allow top train speeds of 110 to 125 mph for a 10 percent reduction in travel time with the goal ultimately to reduce travel time by 20 percent.
That would mean a current ACE trip to San Jose from:
uLathrop/Manteca would go from one hour and 53 minutes to one hour and 40 minutes.
uStockton would go from two hour and 12 minutes to one hour and 59 minutes.
uPleasanton would go from 59 minutes to 52 minutes.
ACE Forward would allow riders boarding in Turlock to reach Merced in 22 minutes, Modesto in 13 minutes, Lathrop/Manteca in 40 minutes, Stockton in 59 minutes, Pleasanton in one hour and 28 minutes, Great America/Levi Stadium in two hours and one minute, and San Jose in two hours and 20 minutes.
ACE Forward is also looking at adding a station at River Islands in Lathrop as well as downtown Tracy.