Advisory Council

Policy Advisory Council

Policy Advisory Council biographies

The mission of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's 27-seat Policy Advisory Council is to advise MTC on transportation and related policies in the San Francisco Bay Area, incorporating diverse perspectives relating to the environment, the economy and social equity. Some of the issues that this new panel is currently advising the Commission on include:

• Regional planning efforts linking transportation, housing and land use plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• An MTC project to improve the cost-effectiveness of the region's public transportation system and pursue strategies to secure new revenues for this system.

Membership

The membership of the Policy Advisory Council is structured around interests related to the economy, the environment and social equity. In the areas of economy and the environment, there are a total of nine members, with four members representing economic interests and four bringing an environmental perspective; the ninth member is representative of either category. In addition, five of the nine are from each of the five most populous Bay Area counties – Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara.

In the area of social equity, nine members (one from each county) represent communities of color and issues affecting low-income communities or environmental justice. Of these, four members represent communities of color and four members represent environmental justice/low-income issues; the ninth member is representative of either category. In addition, nine members (one from each county) represent issues related to transportation for seniors and persons with disabilities. Four members represent seniors and four members represent people with disabilities; the ninth member is representative of either category.

The Council effectively merged MTC’s three former advisory committees – the MTC Advisory Council, the Elderly and Disabled Advisory Committee, and the Minority Citizens Advisory Committee – into one new advisory committee. These three former advisory committees ended in March 2010 with the formation of the Policy Advisory Council.

Policy Advisory Council members will serve an initial two-year term, and four-year terms after that. (Note: At its February 22, 2012 meeting, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission approved a 15-month extension of the initial two-year term of the current members of the Policy Advisory Council through July 2013.) Appointees should maintain an ongoing engagement with organizations and individuals from the categories and communities they represent. Council members are expected to attend committee meetings regularly (typically held on selected Wednesday afternoons at MTC's offices in Oakland). Advisors are eligible for a stipend to cover costs of meeting attendance. All meetings are open to the public.

Vacancy Recruitment

MTC is currently recruiting residents from the nine Bay Area counties to fill the following four vacancies on the Policy Advisory Council:

County	Representing
Marin	Senior or Disabled Communities*
San Francisco	Senior or Disabled Communities*
Sonoma	Low-Income Community*
At-Large (any Bay Area county)	Economy or Environment

*Note: An error was previously posted as to the specific vacancy categories in each county. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Appointments are expected to be made in June 2012, and appointees will serve from July 2012 through the current term ending July 2013. Applications for the open positions will be accepted through May 9, 2012.

For more information on the Policy Advisory Council, contact Pam Grove, staff liaison, at 510.817.5706 or pgrove@mtc.ca.gov, or contact the MTC Public Information Office at 510.817.5757 or via e-mail at info@mtc.ca.gov.