Blueprint - Phased Implementation Plan

Executive Summary: Bay Area Transportation Blueprint --
Phased Implementation Plan

The Bay Area Blueprint for the 21st Century is a planning effort that parallels MTC's 20-year Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), last updated by the Commission in May 1999. As required by federal law, the RTP is a 20-year budget designed to finance transportation plans and programs. However, the budget is only big enough to sustain the existing transportation system and make marginal improvements. It is not sufficient to serve the expected growth of the region or to make a noticeable dent in congestion. This fact is a frustration for our Commission and our constituents.

The RTP does not provide sufficient new capacity to keep up with regional growth

The Bay Area Blueprint is aimed at finding ways to relieve that tension. It is a survey of the major transportation projects and programs championed by our partners that are outside the boundaries of the budget-constrained RTP. The first phase of the Blueprint -- begun in January 1999 -- consisted of a preliminary analysis of three modal system alternatives: rail, ferry and a rapid bus/high occupancy vehicle (HOV) system. It tested the impact of an alternative land-use projection and a pricing concept as well. The second phase of the Blueprint involved extensive public outreach throughout the region, including public meetings in each county, a comprehensive web site and polling of local elected officials and the general public.

In the third phase of the overall Blueprint effort, MTC evaluated the cost-effectiveness of individual transit and highway projects. This evaluation is intended to be a technical resource that will inform subsequent policy decisions. As such, it does not outline final recommendations regarding investment priorities or choices that will eventually be made by the Commission and other regional and local policymakers. Most importantly, the Blueprint should serve as a ready reference in developing coherent packages of programs and projects as funding opportunities arise.

Two such opportunities arose independently earlier this year. Governor Davis, responding to criticism that his January 2000 budget proposals did not do enough for transportation, promised a comprehensive statewide strategy by mid-April. In February, the Davis Administration began soliciting project ideas from transportation interests around the state to prepare for release of that plan. At the same time, Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, the Bay Area's representative on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, issued a challenge to the region and her congressional colleagues to lay the groundwork for a revised regional rail agreement (to update MTC's New Rail Starts and Extensions Program adopted as Resolution No. 1876 in 1988). MTC's response to these developments at the state and federal level resulted in this Blueprint Phased Implementation Plan, adopted by the Commission on March 29, 2000.

Summary of the Blueprint Plan

Highlights of the Blueprint Plan include:

The Blueprint planning process identified $33 billion worth of unfunded transportation needs in our region. The early phases of the Blueprint Plan would fund only one-tenth of that identified need. This admitted deficiency underscores the importance of enacting Senate Constitutional Amendment (SCA) 3 by Senator John Burton or a comparable state aid measure, to address the transportation demand created by California's robust economy.
The $3.8 billion Blueprint Plan reflects a complex mix of modes -- rail, rapid bus, HOV gap closures, highway interchanges and bicycles. Transit improvements constitute $2.6 billion -- or about two-thirds -- of total project costs, with the remaining $1.2 billion devoted to highway projects.
The Blueprint Plan focuses primarily on providing near-term relief in the region's most congested travel corridors. Projects included in the plan would achieve the following benefits:
1. Establish a rail link between BART in southern Alameda County and San Jose.
2. Triple Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) service levels (from six to 18 trains per day).
3. Double Capitols service levels (from 14 to 32 trains per day).
4. Cut 30 minutes off the Caltrain commute via new express service.
5. Connect BART to Oakland International Airport.
6. Extend Muni Metro to the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown.
7. Establish or enhance rapid bus service in the following corridors: I-80, I-580, State Route 4, US 101 in the North Bay, I-880, I-280, the Santa Clara Valley, and most of the region's toll bridges.
8. Accelerate expansion of the HOV system to serve the rapid bus program and those who carpool.
9. Make other strategic improvements in the highway network.
10. Close key gaps in the region's bike lane system.
The Blueprint Plan also supports expanded transit services for those who cannot -- or choose not to -- drive. A key element in the plan is strengthening lifeline transit service, comprised of new commute service for welfare recipients seeking work, and night and weekend services for those who do not own cars.

In each of the five Bay Area counties with a special transportation sales tax in place, the proceeds from this levy exceed the county's share of funds from the STIP. All of these sales taxes are set to expire by 2009, unless renewed by a 2/3 vote of the electorate.

Comparison of the Governor's Plan And the Blueprint Plan

Governor Davis' Traffic Congestion Relief Plan was released on April 6, 2000. Statewide, the plan is a $5.3 billion program, of which $4.8 billion, or 90 percent, is identified for specific projects in regions across the state. The remaining funds are: $400 million for local road deferred maintenance, $100 million for state highway deferred maintenance and $5 million for environmental review of high-speed rail. The plan is proposed to be funded by a mixture of general fund revenues and sales tax resources.

Under the governor's plan, the Bay Area's share of the regional funds is $1.6 billion. The governor's plan dedicates approximately 90 percent of the Bay Area funding to public transit. Of the proposed transit investments, $1.3 billion (94 percent) is rail, $48 million (3.4 percent) is bus, $12 million (1.0 percent) is ferry and $22 million (1.6 percent) are studies.

(See table below: Blueprint Phased Implementation Plan Compared With Governor's Plan)

Blueprint Advocacy Principles

The following principles guided our development of the Blueprint Phased Implementation Plan, and will continue to guide MTC's advocacy as the Legislature considers the governor's proposal in the context of the FY 2000-01 state budget.

Long-term funding -- First and foremost, we support authorization of a long-term funding program comparable to SCA 3. The California Transportation Commission has estimated that the state faces a $118 billion shortfall in funding for transportation infrastructure over the next decade. The governor's plan is a welcome first step, but a larger, dedicated, ongoing revenue stream is needed to make significant headway on the overall transportation funding shortfall. The governor also relies on substantial local matching commitments to fully fund most of the projects included in the plan. This matching funding will be difficult to obtain without the ability to raise new local revenue via SCA 3 or another vehicle. (The importance of local funding generated by half-cent transportation sales taxes in the Bay Area is illustrated in the chart on the previous page.)
Local roads and transit operations -- There is an immediate need for local road repair and transit operating funding. AB 1612 (Torlakson), which we support, represents an important step. The Torlakson legislation would generate $100 million per year for the deficit-ridden Public Transportation Account, which would provide an important new source of revenue to operate the public transit capital improvements proposed in both the Blueprint and the governor's plan. AB 1612 also would generate $290 million annually in new funding for local street and road repair, which faces a funding shortfall of $5.6 billion over the next two decades in the Bay Area alone (see chart below).
Corridor planning and engineering -- Assemblyman Tom Torlakson has submitted a $33.5 million budget request to fund planning and engineering work in six Bay Area travel corridors. MTC supports this budget request, which would help identify and develop the best modal choices and staged improvements as financing becomes available. We also support augmenting that request by $17 million for planning work in three additional travel corridors, for a total request of $50.5 million in nine corridors. By comparison, the governor's plan proposes only $22 million in funding for four corridor studies.
Funding flexibility -- We seek funding for promising projects in all the region's congested travel corridors, but where studies are under way or contemplated, flexibility is required to make the best decision possible as planning projects are concluded. The governor's plan recognizes the need for such flexibility in the Transbay and Route 24/Caldecott Tunnel corridors. Similar flexibility should be extended for any other corridor in which a major investment study or similar comparative analysis has not yet been completed.
Specific project requests -- The governor's plan fully funded only a few of MTC's requests in the Blueprint plan, such as the Caltrain Express service and the I-680 Sunol Grade northbound HOV project. In many other cases, the governor's plan funded a Blueprint project, but at less than the amount requested. In still other cases, the governor's plan did not fund a project we had requested. In a few cases, the governor's plan funded Bay Area projects that MTC had not requested. In the legislative process, we will seek funding for all the Blueprint projects contained in our March 29 request at the funding levels proposed in that request. The table below outlines a project-by-project comparison of MTC's Blueprint Plan funding requests and the governor's plan.