Blueprint - Phased Implementation Plan

Bay Area Transportation Blueprint --
Phased Implementation Plan

Transit Improvements

Phase 1 - Corridor Planning and Engineering

MTC supports the $33.5 million budget request for corridor planning and engineering proposed by Assemblyman Tom Torlakson to develop the best transit mode choices and staged improvements as financing becomes available. We also support augmenting that request with funding for planning work in a few additional Bay Area travel corridors. [See Appendix 1 for a complete list, including costs, of proposed corridor planning and engineering studies.]

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested¹
$54.5 million	$50.5 million

¹"State Funds Requested" refers to potential new state funding available through Governor Davis' transportation initiative or AB 1612 (Torlakson) that could be used to finance the Phase 2 implementation costs for the projects listed. Appendix 1 contains additional detail on proposed project funding.

*Includes $4 million already programmed in the STIP

Phase 2 - Rail Projects

BART to Warm Springs / Commuter Rail, Union City BART to San Jose

BART to Warm Springs

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$546 million	$0

Commuter Rail, Union City BART to San Jose

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$155 million	$59 million

The critical gap between BART and San Jose in the regional rail system was envisioned for at least partial closure in the original MTC Resolution No. 1876 package with the BART to Warm Springs extension. The original 1876 agreement has a balance of $151 million (in 1999 $) in bridge toll and San Mateo buy-in funds. The Alameda County Measure B 20-year Transportation Expenditure Plan (on the ballot in November 2000) proposes an additional $166 million. This implementation plan proposes to fund the remainder of the project through federal New Starts funds available after the BART-SFO extension is fully funded.

The governor already has proposed that $35 million in state funds be directed toward the purchase of the Union Pacific right-of-way upon which the commuter rail service would run. MTC has approved a $12 million allocation of federal funds to supplement the right-of-way purchase. The existing Santa Clara sales tax includes $96 million pledged to a commuter rail start-up service that would connect BART to San Jose pending a longer-term financial commitment by Santa Clara for further extension of BART.

Future rail upgrades in this corridor could include extension of BART from Warm Springs to San Jose.

Capitols Intercity Rail Upgrades

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$187 million	$89 million

BART, the manager of the Capitols service that runs from Sacramento to San Jose, has developed a plan that would increase that service from 14 to 32 trains per day. To do so entails an investment of $187 million in track upgrades, signal improvements and additional train sets.

Caltrain Express and Upgrades

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$133 million	$133 million

Our Blueprint analysis found that improvements to the Caltrain system would generate more new riders than any other transit project studied, with greater service frequency and speeds generating most of these gains. This is not surprising given the train's pivotal position linking the fast-growing South of Market area in San Francisco to the Silicon Valley job market, while passing through many densely settled older suburban communities and nearby business parks along the San Francisco Peninsula.

MTC's prior Resolution No. 1876 commitment to Caltrain has been pledged to rehabilitation of the system's tracks and station -- as have other local funds -- which will set the stage for more frequent service and higher ridership levels. The initial implementation phase would fund a Caltrain Express project recently proposed by State Senator Jackie Speier (SB 2003). It consists of constructing passing tracks in the vicinity of Burlingame and San Mateo and a turnback track near Palo Alto, which will enable the Joint Powers Board to run trains every 30 minutes in both north and south directions, with express trains making the trip between San Francisco and San Jose in only 45 minutes. The $127 million total funding package also entails purchasing five new train sets consisting of one locomotive and four cars each.

The implementation plan also proposes the following other upgrades: $5 million for a new Coyote Valley station in South San Jose already included in the governor's FY 2000-01 budget, and $1.3 million for track improvements south of the Gilroy station.

This Caltrain express service upgrade could, in turn, set the stage for future upgrades such as electrification of the line and the downtown San Francisco extension project.

Muni Metro Central Subway

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$530 million	$180 million

San Francisco will soon begin construction of the first phase of the Third Street Muni Metro extension from Mission Bay to the Bayview/Hunter's Point neighborhood, financed by $300 million in Proposition B sales tax and STIP county share funds. The second phase of the project entails construction of a subway from the vicinity of the Caltrain terminal under Market Street to a northern terminus in Chinatown. Both phases of the project have been cleared through the state environmental process. The second phase Central Subway project would provide off-street Muni Metro service in the most congested part of the San Francisco central business district.

This $530 million Central Subway project is proposed to be funded in the initial implementation phase through a combination of the governor's plan and federal New Starts, bridge toll, and STIP county share funds. This project and the BART-to-Warm Springs project described on page 9 are both authorized for New Starts funding in the 1998 federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century.

Future rail upgrades in San Francisco could involve the final phase of the Third Street extension or Muni Metro extensions in the Geary or North Beach corridors.

BART - Oakland International Airport Connector

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$130 million	$39 million

Oakland International Airport lies 2.5 miles west of BART's Coliseum station. Currently, shuttle buses provide passenger service between the two locations. The 1998 STIP provided $4 million for environmental review and preliminary engineering of a grade-separated BART connection to the rapidly growing airport. BART's extension staging policy places the project in Phase II after the Resolution No. 1876 projects are delivered, but provides that a BART-Oakland Airport connection project should be established before or at the same time as the extension of BART to San Francisco International Airport now under way.

The Port of Oakland has committed $25 million in airport and other funds towards the $130 million total project cost. The proposed Alameda County Measure B sales tax expenditure plan would add $66 million. MTC requests $39 million in state funds to finance the remaining project costs.

Future transit upgrades in the congested I-880 corridor must be determined after further study.

ACE Commuter Rail Improvements

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$82 million	$36 million

The governor's FY 2000-01 budget proposes $36 million to improve Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) service, which runs from Stockton to San Jose. By adding $46 million to that state pledge, ACE service could be increased from six to 18 trains per day. As with Capitols intercity rail, the investment would be in track, signals and train sets. There is also keen local interest in extending ACE service from Stockton across the Dumbarton Bridge to the Peninsula, which we propose to be evaluated and defined by adding a request for $3 million to conduct a comprehensive analysis of transportation options to serve the corridor.

Vasona Light Rail and Measure B Rail Transit Shortfall

Vasona Light Rail

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$27 million	$27 million

Measure B Rail Transit Shortfall

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$165 million	$165 million

Santa Clara County's Measure B rail program includes the extension of the Vasona line from San Jose to downtown Campbell. Currently, the $212 million budget consists primarily of Measure B funds, to be supplemented with other funds including Governor Davis' $15 million request in his FY 2000-01 budget for the Winchester station, the next stop south beyond the current Campbell terminus. The $15 million, however, does not fully fund the station's $20 million cost. The implementation plan recommends an additional $12 million to complete the station project and purchase right-of-way.

At the request of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, the implementation plan also seeks $165 million in state funds to cover shortfalls in the $860 million locally-funded Measure B rail transit program, including $68 million for the purchase of 20 low-floor light rail vehicles.

Phase 2 - Rapid Bus and Lifeline Transit Programs

Rapid Bus Program

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$177 million*	$59 million

*The cost of HOV lane construction (which would enhance Rapid Bus service) is included in the "Highway Improvements" cost estimate

The principal finding of our Blueprint evaluation report is that the fastest growing parts of the Bay Area are best served by a fleet of express buses operating on the region's expanding network of HOV lanes. The challenge before the region is to build on the successful express bus services offered by Golden Gate Transit and AC Transit into San Francisco and to emulate the more fully developed systems operating in Seattle, Vancouver, and Curitiba, Brazil.

The $177 million initial implementation phase of the system proposed here focuses in part on East Bay rapid bus connections to BART in the I-580 and State Route 4 corridors. These bus services are not intended to preclude future BART extensions beyond Bay Point and Dublin, but rather to extend the reach of BART in the near term. Other access improvements at BART stations also should be considered. The initial rapid bus phase also includes North and East Bay routes using US 101 in Sonoma and Marin counties, I-680 from the Benicia Bridge in the north to San Jose in the south, I- 80 from Solano County to the East Bay and San Francisco, I-880 from San Leandro to San Jose, areawide services in Santa Clara County along its freeway and expressway network, the I-280 corridor in San Mateo, and upgraded express service across most of the region's toll bridges. [See map for proposed rapid bus routes. See Appendix 3 for a complete list and cost breakdown of proposed rapid bus routes.]

This implementation plan looks to the state for critical operating support as well as capital assistance. Additional capital funding would come from the Federal Transit Administration Section 5309 discretionary bus program.

Lifeline Transit Program

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$9 million	$9 million

Building on the Commission's ongoing involvement in welfare-to-work planning activities as well as the RTP's imperative to provide for the mobility needs of all Bay Area residents, we propose to initiate a safety net or "lifeline" program of nighttime and weekend transit service in the initial implementation phase. [See Appendix 4 for a complete list and cost breakdown of proposed lifeline transit routes.]

This program would primarily serve transit-dependent riders along key routes of the region's rail and bus systems, with paratransit vans and vehicles and demand-responsive schedules, where appropriate. The capital cost is only $9 million because much of the lifeline service either would be run during evenings and weekends when spare transit vehicles already are available, or would be contracted to private paratransit providers. We would seek funding for this modest capital cost and the associated operating support from the governor's plan or other state sources.

One possible source of state funding is Assemblywoman Dion Aroner's AB 2052, which MTC supports. This bill would make available to regional transportation planning agencies $20 million in General Fund moneys for grants to transit agencies and non-profit groups that provide transportation services to individuals in welfare-to-work programs.

Future upgrades to the proposed lifeline service would be determined after the initial service is operational and any remaining gaps are identified.

Rapid Bus and Lifeline Transit:
Operations

Cost to Implement	State Funds Requested
$385 million*	$210 million

*Only one-third of the estimated 15-year cost is included in the Blueprint

The State Transit Assistance (STA) program is a source of revenue to finance ongoing and expanded transit operations. It has hovered around $100 million per year for more than a decade. Yet it is the lack of operating funds that prevents making optimum use of the growing network of HOV lanes and which stymies welfare-to-work and other lifeline transit services. There is a compelling need for the state to dramatically increase the size of the STA program or to create a complementary new program to address this deficiency. We propose $25 million per year to finance Bay Area services as part of an overall statewide augmentation, which could be partially funded by pending legislation that the Commission supports (AB 1612 - Torlakson). This amount would cover roughly one-third of the net annual operating cost of the rapid bus and lifeline service proposed here. The remainder of the operating funding would have to be provided from other local sources. AB 1612 also would provide new funding for local street and road repair, another pressing regional need.

Phase 3 - Longer-Term Transit Improvements

Future transit upgrades include the following improvements listed by corridor:

BART to Livermore (I-580 corridor)
BART to Antioch (Route 4 corridor)
ACE to the Peninsula (Route 92/84 corridor)
Commuter rail service on the Northwest Pacific line (Golden Gate corridor)
Light-rail extensions (Santa Clara Subarea)
A new Transbay Terminal and other transit improvements to be determined in the forthcoming Southern Crossing Study (I-80 corridor).

The costs of these future improvements are not estimated in this implementation plan. [See Appendix 1 for a complete list and cost breakdown of all proposed Phase 1 and 2 transit projects. Also see Appendix 6 for a list of other transit projects proposed in the governor's plan.]

NEXT: Highway Improvements

Back to Table of Contents