Draft 2001 RTP Overview
Sidebars
Reaching Out
The 2001
edition of the Regional Transportation Plan is the
product of an extensive public outreach campaign
that included a number of workshops targeted at low-income
communities and people of color. A series of interactive
displays invited workshop participants to voice their
preferences and concerns via sticky dots (see photo).
The workshops also featured group discussions on
key local and regional issues. A second round of
outreach is planned for the fall of 2001.
RTP Outreach Highlights
- MTC kicked off the RTP outreach with a town hall meeting in February 2001 that was attended by some 200 people.
- A video of the kick-off was distributed to 25 cable TV stations and posted to MTC's Web site.
- In the spring of 2001, MTC cosponsored 29 workshops, partnering with congestion management agencies and community groups in low-income neighborhoods as well as special interest groups catering to business, seniors and the like. At several meetings, translators were on hand to interpret for non-English speakers. Funding was provided for seven of the workshops to help community-based organizations defray the costs of hosting and publicizing the meetings. In all, 700 people attended, many of them interacting with MTC for the first time.
- MTC developed a Web version of interactive outreach display materials, dubbing it "The RTP Challenge." Some 1,700 people took part in the Web survey.
- A consultant conducted a random-sample telephone poll of 1,600 registered voters.
- Findings from the outreach campaign were compiled into a report that was posted to MTC's Web site, with summaries in Spanish and Chinese also posted.
Thinking
Outside the Box
Among the clearest and most consistent messages we received from the public
was an exhortation to search for new and innovative solutions to stubborn transportation
problems. In this spirit, the RTP presents a number of possible areas for MTC
investigation and experimentation. Following are some highlights, grouped according
to the core RTP goals.
Mobility
- Institute reversible lanes on freeways to provide additional peak-period capacity
- Charge tolls for use of high-occupancy vehicle lanes by single-occupant vehicles
- Raise bridge tolls during peak hours (congestion pricing)
- Allow express buses on freeway shoulders
- Deploy special incident management teams to deal with big rig accidents Equity
- Launch pilot program for subsidized transit passes for low-income students
- Establish Lifeline Transit Network to ensure adequate travel options in lower-income areas
- Provide incentives to convert free parking to paid parking
- Enforce speed limit more strictly on high-ozone days
- Improve Smog Check program (in which cars must periodically pass a smog test)
- Provide remote ticketing and check-in at off-airport terminals
- Establish more convenient pickup locations at airports Community Vitality
- Pool funds from various agencies to increase incentives for transit-oriented development
Lifeline Transit
The Blueprint for the
21st Century calls for developing a "Lifeline
Transit Network" for low-income residents who
can't afford to own and operate one car, let
alone the two vehicles that many middle class
families consider essential for getting to work,
dropping their kids at school or day care, rushing
to medical appointments, and going grocery shopping.
The program would build on MTC's existing Low-Income Flexible Transportation Program, whose "LIFT" acronym captures the intent: to give a boost to newcomers to the job market, and particularly to people making the transition from welfare rolls to payrolls. Among the dozen projects benefiting from the first round of LIFT grants -- announced in late 2000 -- are van services that transport children between school and child-care or after-school programs while their parents are at work, and extended "owl" bus services to enable late-night shift workers to travel to and from jobs.
The Lifeline Transit Network would replicate these efforts around the region. As a first step, MTC is in the process of analyzing gaps in transit services -- both spatial gaps, meaning areas where bus and rail service is lacking, and temporal gaps, meaning times of day when service is inadequate. At the same time, MTC is conducting a Transit Affordability Study that is exploring the possibility of providing free or discounted transit passes to low-income travelers, and particularly to youths confronted with the challenge of getting to a school that is often many miles away.
Fueling Smart Growth
MTC launched the
Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC)
program in 1998, feeding it with flexible funding
flowing to the region from the federal TEA 21
legislation. Initially, the program provided
planning and capital grants for small-scale transportation
projects that enhance community vitality -- including
bike and pedestrian paths, streetscapes, plazas
in the vicinity of transit hubs, and the like.
In 2000, MTC added a new category to its portfolio
of smart growth grant programs: the Housing Incentive
Program, or HIP for short. HIP rewards cities
for fostering compact housing with easy access
to public transit lines. The grants are keyed
to project densities -- the more units per acre,
the higher the grant amount. Affordable units
earn a bonus. In a synergistic twist, MTC's HIP
guidelines call for cities to use the incentive
grants to fund more TLC-type projects.
The Draft RTP would triple TLC funding, to $27 million annually. Of this, $18 million would be allocated at the regional level by MTC. The remaining $9 million per year would be allocated by the county congestion management agencies for locally determined projects that fit the TLC profile.
Sample Local RTP Projects
Listed below are some of the key road, transit and freight projects recommended
by the county congestion management agencies:
Alameda County
- BART to Warm Springs*
- BART/Oakland International Airport connector*
- Bus Rapid Transit (Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro)*
- I-680 Sunol Grade high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes
Contra Costa County
- Route 4 improvements
- Caldecott Tunnel 4th bore
- Richmond Intermodal Transfer Station
Marin
- U.S. 101 HOV lanes: San Rafael gap closure
- Local bus service enhancements
- I-580/U.S. 101 interchange improvements Napa
- Route 29/Trancas Road interchange
- Route 12/29/221 intersection improvements
San Francisco
- Third Street light-rail extension to Chinatown (Central Subway)*
- Doyle Drive replacement (environmental/design)
- Bus Rapid Transit program
San Mateo County
- Caltrain grade separations
- U.S. 101 auxiliary lanes and interchange modifications
Santa Clara County
- BART to San Jose*
- Light-rail extensions: Tasman, East Valley, Capitol, Vasona
- San Jose International Airport light-rail connection
- I-880 HOV lanes from Route 237 to Alameda County line
- U.S. 101 HOV lanes from southern San Jose to Morgan Hill
Solano County
- I-80/I-680/Route 12 interchange improvements
- Jepson Parkway
- New I-80 HOV lane segments, Fairfield to Dixon
Sonoma County
- U.S. 101 HOV lanes and interchange improvements, Windsor to Petaluma
- Northwestern Pacific track improvements and other upgrades
Transbay/Multicounty
- U.S. 101 "Novato Narrows" HOV lanes from Novato to Petaluma
- Dumbarton Bridge rail service*
- Route 12 widening (Napa, Solano)
- Capitol Corridor, ACE intercity rail improvements*
- Caltrain electrification and track improvements (Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco)*
ACA 4 - Possible
Uses
(Billions of 2001 dollars)
Over the 25-year life of the RTP, currently available
transportation revenue sources will generate $7.7
billion in discretionary money for Bay Area projects
and programs. Extending the sales tax on gasoline
(as proposed by ACA 4, headed for the statewide
ballot in 2002) would nearly double that amount
by adding another $6.3 billion to the pot.
Back to RTP Overview
Setting Regional Rail/Bus Priorities
Key candidates on the
table for consideration under the Regional Transit
Expansion Policy include:
- BART extensions: Fremont to Warm Springs and Warm Springs to San Jose
- BART/Oakland International Airport connector
- eBART and tBART -- would extend BART's reach in the Tri-Valley and to the Delta by running diesel trains along existing freight tracks
- Caltrain upgrades: express service; extension to downtown San Francisco; electrification
- Dumbarton rail service
- San Francisco Muni Central Subway (to Chinatown)
- ACE and Capitols intercity rail service expansion
- AC Transit rapid bus (Berkeley/ Oakland/San Leandro)
- Other regional express bus expansion
Air Quality Trends
2000-2006
Does increased auto travel equate to increased air pollution? Not necessarily. Over the next six years, emissions of volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen -- two precursors to ozone pollution, or smog -- are predicted to drop despite a 10 percent increase in vehicle miles of travel. In fact, MTC models show the region attaining the federal ozone standard by 2006 or earlier. The good news is attributable to cleaner burning fuels and more efficient auto engines, and efforts by MTC and other regional agencies to curb emissions from both mobile sources (autos, trucks, etc.) and stationary sources such as industrial plants and refineries.
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