ANNUAL REPORT

MTC Annual Report 2000

PLANNING AND ADVOCACY

MTC's efforts to analyze project merits and build regional consensus around the most promising options proved timely when, in January of 2000, California Governor Gray Davis announced a parallel effort to develop a statewide transportation vision. When Sacramento cast its net in search of worthy projects, MTC was able to draw on the Blueprint findings to quickly compile a list of several dozen well-documented, traffic-busting candidates. Adopted at the Commission's March 2000 meeting, the $3.8 billion package--dubbed the Blueprint Phased Implementation Plan--coalesced just in time to make the deadline for submitting ideas to the governor.

Next Stop: Sacramento
A healthy share of MTC's top picks ended up in the governor's statewide Traffic Congestion Relief Program, unveiled in April 2000. In all, the governor's plan proposed to pump $1.6 billion into the region, nearly matching MTC's dollar request for state funds. Reflecting the visions of both the governor and local leaders, the hybrid package next headed for the state Legislature, where it was subjected to further scrutiny and debate, leading up to final action in July 2000. When the dust settled, the state had enacted a $6.8 billion, five-year spending plan, giving California's transportation network its biggest one-time cash infusion in over a decade and setting aside more than $1.7 billion of the total pot for Bay Area projects.

As 2000 drew to a close, transportation was on a roll in the Bay Area, with the proposed BART extension from Fremont to San Jose--a project that was prominently featured in the governor's plan--scoring more than $2 billion in crucial matching funds in local elections in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. In all, the November elections yielded $7.9 billion in half-cent sales tax revenues for transit and highway expansion, street and road repairs, and the like in those two counties. Put it all together, and the Bay Area gained nearly $10 billion in new transportation revenues in 2000--not a bad year!

Express Buses Take Center Stage
If there is a centerpiece to the Blueprint Phased Implementation Plan, it is the express bus fleet. Under MTC's vision, this relatively low-cost, low-tech form of transit would become a major new feature of the regional transportation system. The fleet would close gaps in the bus-rail network and take some of the load off crowded freeways while capitalizing on the region's 560-mile web of existing and planned diamond commuter lanes. Highly flexible, express buses can approach the speed and frequency of a rail system when on the freeway, then exit to city streets to deliver commuters practically to their homes or jobs.

The governor and the Legislature set aside $40 million in the Traffic Congestion Relief Program to help the Bay Area purchase 100 low-emission, long-haul coaches. These top-of-the-line vehicles will entice commuters with such features as high-back seats and electrical outlets for computer hook-ups. As 2000 drew to a close, MTC issued a call for projects to local public transit agencies, which will operate the new express bus service.

Regional Airport System Plan
At the same time as crafting the Blueprint for the 21st Century, which dealt with the region's ground transportation network, MTC had its eye on the sky, steering an 18-month effort to update the Regional Airport System Plan.

The development of the plan was overseen by a policy panel made up of representatives from MTC as well as the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), state and federal agencies, and the region's three international airports--San Francisco (SFO), Oakland (OAK) and San Jose (SJC).

The consultants and policy committee analyzed a range of alternatives for alleviating weather-related flight delays at SFO and for accommodating spiraling air traffic at all three airports: Air passengers will double by 2020, to 111 million annual passengers, while air cargo tonnage will triple, to 5.5 million tons.

The analysis took a fresh look at a much-publicized proposal to extend SFO's runways into San Francisco Bay. The merits of runway expansion at SFO as well as at OAK were weighed against other options for expanding capacity and minimizing flight delays, including building a new airport in the North Bay, deploying advanced air traffic control technologies and instituting high-speed rail service along the heavily traveled Bay Area-to-Los Angeles corridor.

Sustainable Development
Through its Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) Program, MTC is combating sprawl one project at a time. The innovative program provides seed money to foster development geared to the needs of pedestrians and transit riders. In communities around the region, typical car-oriented development is giving way to inviting plazas, landscaped streets and attractive, mixed-use "transit villages" that hearken back to old-fashioned town centers and main streets, complete with easy access to bus and rail lines.

Since the TLC program's inception in 1998, nearly $30 million in planning and capital grants has been awarded to 79 projects. The program took a new turn in 2000 when MTC established the Housing Incentive Program (HIP), bankrolling it with $9 million in federal funding. Under the program, local jurisdictions that construct housing near transit hubs will be rewarded with grants that can be used for TLC-type transportation improvements. The higher the density, the greater the grant. By addressing the region's chronic housing shortage and making existing communities more livable, HIP delivers a one-two punch to sprawl.

The past year also saw MTC join forces with ABAG, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, BCDC and the Regional Water Quality Control Board--as well as the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development --to set in motion the Regional Agencies Smart Growth Strategy. The sponsors hope to reach consensus on a set of best practices for sustainable development and financial incentives to spur similar efforts.

Traveler Access and Information

The motif will appear on the credit-card-sized TransLink® card itself as well as on readers installed at fare gates and aboard vehicles operated by six local systems participating in the first phase of a pilot program: AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, San Francisco Muni and (Santa Clara) Valley Transportation Authority.

TransLink® is based on smart-card technology: A wafer-thin computer chip embedded in the plastic will store value and automatically deduct the cost of each trip when the card is passed near a reader. The card also can function as a monthly pass, providing unlimited rides for a set price.

Many years in the planning, the TransLink® program got under way in earnest in mid-1999 when MTC signed a $23 million contract for Phase I with a consortium of experienced smart-card vendors headed by Motorola, Inc. and ERG Group of Australia. In the ensuing months, the contractors have been developing the card, designing and manufacturing the card-reader equipment, and setting up a centralized fare- processing center in Concord, Calif.

MTC views TransLink® as a key strategy for knitting together the region's two-dozen-plus transit operators into a seamless, traveler-friendly network. If all goes well with the pilot program that is set to launch in the summer of 2001, TransLink® could begin regionwide implementation starting in 2002.

Regional Traveler Information
"Welcome to TravInfo®!" Every day, more than 2,000 times a day, travelers dial 817-1717 and are greeted by the familiar voice that is their personal guide to navigating the Bay Area's freeway, bridge and public transit network.

With the push of a few buttons on their handset or car phone, drivers can find out traffic conditions on their exact routes--continuously updated around the clock by the staff at the TravInfo® Traveler Information Center in downtown Oakland.

And when taking the bus or train seems a better choice than driving, the same easy-to-remember, free phone number provides direct links to the phone information centers for more than two dozen public transit systems and ridesharing agencies serving the Bay Area.

A joint project of MTC, Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol, TravInfo® took a leap forward in August 2000 when MTC awarded a $38 million contract to a team headed by PB Farradyne to operate the high-tech system for the next six years. The contract marks the project's transition from a federally funded "field test" to a permanent component of MTC's portfolio of services.

The contractor team will substantially beef up the data-collection network along area freeways, and provide new avenues for retrieving the information. Commuters will be able to view live traffic information on the TravInfo® Web site, at strategically placed kiosks and via hand-held computers. Meanwhile, calls to the traveler information number are on an upward trend: A marketing campaign that featured prominently placed billboards helped boost inquiries about traffic conditions by 73 percent in 2000.

More good news came in mid-2000 with the decision by the Federal Communications Commission to designate 511 as a national traveler information number. MTC is spearheading the application of the new number in the Bay Area, which could replace the 817-1717 number by 2002.

Also in the realm of timely traveler information, MTC continues to maintain and grow the Transit Information Page, located at www.transitinfo.org. The popular Web site offers schedules and route maps for five dozen public and private bus, train and ferry operators in the Bay Area and adjacent regions. In mid-2001, MTC will release an online trip-planning feature that will generate detailed, personalized transit itineraries for visitors to the site.

Welfare-to-Work Initiative
Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, a map can tell a compelling story. Using the latest in geographic information system technology (GIS), MTC planners have been developing county-level maps that display the density of households with welfare recipients as well as potential job sites, licensed child-care facilities, job training locations, major medical facilities, and public transit routes and bus stops. The detailed maps show in bold relief the missing transit links that could prevent CalWORKs participants--many of whom can't afford a car--from successfully making the transition from welfare rolls to payrolls.

Using this information, MTC is working with public transit operators, social service agencies and other stakeholders to tailor new services and programs for this emerging market, and to identify funding resources. To date, conditions have been documented, and action plans developed, for seven Bay Area counties, with two more county plans in the works.

The planning work set the stage for the region to land nearly $4 million in federal grants (for eight projects) from the Job Access and Reverse Commute Program over the last two years. Another important new funding pot is the aptly named Low-Income Flexible Transportation (LIFT) grant program, established by MTC in April 2000 with $5 million in flexible federal funding, to be matched by another $5 million in county welfare funds.