MTC Annual Report 2000
Introduction
When it comes to scenery, the Bay Area has it all--vast expanses of shimmering,
blue water framed by striking skylines and rugged coastlines... distinctive
neighborhoods and picturesque hamlets... rolling hills carpeted with green...
mountain peaks and lush vineyards. This varied terrain has given rise to a
singularly diverse transportation network that includes 1,400 miles of highway,
eight toll bridges, nearly 20,000 miles of local streets and roads, three major
commercial airports, five public seaports and more than two dozen public transit
agencies operating everything from diesel buses and commuter trains to cable cars,
streetcars and ferries. Keeping this network on track, in shape and interconnected
is the Metropolitan Transportation Commission--now in its 30th year--and the
agency's offshoots, the Bay Area Toll Authority and the Service Authority for
Freeways and Expressways. |
Letter from the Executive director
 When I look back at the highlights of 2000, the first thought
that comes to mind is: What a difference a year can make! The Bay Area finished the year
almost $10 billion richer in funding for transportation projects and services.
Most of the thanks--nearly $8 billion worth--for this unexpected windfall goes to the
voters of Santa Clara and Alameda counties, who mustered stunning supermajority vote totals
for half-cent transportation sales taxes in November. Credit also is due to Governor Gray
Davis and the state Legislature, who earlier reached agreement on a $6.8 billion statewide
Traffic Congestion Relief Program (TCRP), of which $1.7 billion is earmarked for the Bay
Area. MTC helped guide the selection of projects for the TCRP by identifying and evaluating
scores of potential transportation improvements in a major planning study called the Bay
Area Transportation Blueprint for the 21st Century.
Though substantial, this new funding is but a down payment on the over $33 billion in
unfunded transportation needs identified in our Blueprint. In the coming year we will work
with our legislative delegation in Sacramento to build on last year's breakthroughs and
keep the funding flowing. If we can multiply last year's gains by, for example, making
transportation the permanent recipient of proceeds from the sales tax on gasoline, we will
have scored another significant victory in our long struggle to secure additional resources
to improve regional mobility. With the state's power crisis draining General Fund revenues,
however, our first mission will be to protect the gains we've already made.
But it's not only about money. For MTC, the year 2000 was significant for other reasons,
too. Last year marked the 30th anniversary of the creation of our agency by the California
Legislature. We were brought into being with a strong mandate to better integrate and
further develop a diverse, loosely knit transportation network covering nine counties and
incorporating public transit, highways, airports, seaports and railroads. In the
intervening three decades, the scope of our duties has broadened, and we have grown as an
organization to the point where we are now three agencies (and three acronyms) in one--MTC,
BATA and SAFE.
In 1987, the state Legislature authorized the creation of MTC's Service Authority for
Freeways and Expressways (SAFE), which launched the Bay Area's roadside motorist-aid call
box program in mid-1988. Four years later, SAFE kicked off its second program, the Freeway
Service Patrol. These traveler services have flourished under MTC's leadership and both are
now well-established, essential features of the region's highway network.
In 1997, MTC received another vote of confidence from the Legislature when it was
designated to serve as the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), a new body created to oversee
the administration of the $1 base toll collected on all state-owned Bay Area bridges. BATA
came into being in January 1998, and now is responsible for funding a number of
congestion-relieving and safety-related bridge projects, including the construction of
entirely new spans to replace or augment existing structures at the Carquinez and
Benicia-Martinez bridge sites.
Over time, MTC also has taken on the role of regional transportation financier, and last
year we allocated or programmed over $1.5 billion to fund hundreds of projects and services
throughout the Bay Area--a figure that is double what it was a decade ago.
Last year we also said good-bye to the man most responsible for the growth and
maturation of the agency over the last 23 years, Lawrence D. Dahms. When Larry retired as
MTC's executive director on December 31, 2000, the official end of the millennium also
became the unofficial end of an era at MTC. We will miss Larry's vision, his steady hand
and his unwavering commitment to cooperative partnership among all transportation players
in the region. As I assume his duties, I am grateful for the superb staff and the reservoir
of good will Larry has left as his legacy. All of us in the Bay Area are the beneficiaries
of his quarter-century of far-sighted leadership.
In gearing up to confront the major challenges that face MTC in 2001--updating the
25-year Regional Transportation Plan, issuing $400 million in BATA bonds to finance bridge
construction, rolling out the TransLink® transit fare payment system--we are bolstered
by the agency's 30-year record of effectiveness and leadership. I am hopeful that in 2002
I'll be able to say again, "What a difference a year can make!"
Steve Heminger
Executive Director
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