Executive Director's Report

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEVE HEMINGER’S REPORT TO THE
COMMISSION MEETING OF JANUARY 27, 2010

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

EPA Proposes Stricter Smog Standard
Washington DC, January 7

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to lower the national ozone standard from its current level of 0.075 parts per million (ppm) to a level between 0.060 and 0.070 ppm averaged over an eight hour period. EPA will take public comment on the proposal before finalizing the new ozone standard in August 2010.

Governor Releases FY 2010-11 Budget Proposal
Sacramento, January 8

It seems like the State of California has confronted a $20 billion budget deficit for each of the past several years, and the FY 2010-11 budget submission from Governor Schwarzenegger is no exception. What is different this time is a complicated and troubling proposal from the governor to repeal the sales tax on gasoline and diesel fuels and increase the excise (per gallon) tax on the same fuels, which will have the net effect of eliminating $1.5 billion in state funding for public transit.

TRB Annual Meeting
Washington DC, January 11-15

I joined several MTC staff at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board, which at 10,000 strong is usually the largest gathering of transportation professionals every year in the United States. I made presentations on estimating capital needs and goods movement at two panels during the event. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood also addressed the conference on Wednesday, and made a major announcement on how the Obama Administration will evaluate proposed investments in rail and bus projects in the New Starts program.

MTC Releases Pavement Condition Report
Oakland, January 19

We released our annual “best and worst” list describing the pavement condition of the Bay Area’s local streets and roads, with the City of Brentwood earning top marks as the local jurisdiction with the best pavement condition and the County of Sonoma bringing up the rear with the worst pavement condition on the far-flung local road network in the unincorporated areas of that county. (See MTC press release.)

East Span Steel Arrives
Oakland, January 21

After lengthy fabrication delays and a three-week sea voyage, the first shipment of steel road deck sections for the self-anchored suspension (SAS) portion of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge new east span arrived at Pier 7 in Oakland last week. After several days of inspections and preparatory work, American Bridge/Fluor will begin lifting the sections atop the steel false work at the job site. We hope that the arrival of steel shipments will become a regular bi-monthly event throughout 2010, with the first sections of the central steel tower scheduled for the spring. (See story.)

Caldecott Tunnel Groundbreaking
Orinda, January 22

Commissioner Worth was the emcee for this event celebrating commencement of construction for the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel. Commissioners Glover, Haggerty and Sartipi also were in attendance. (See story.)

ARRA Status Report

This month’s status report for projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) shows that the region has “obligated” over 91% of these federal economic stimulus funds, while 76% of the money has been put to work creating jobs in awarded contracts.

• Bay Area ARRA Project Status | January 25, 2010 (PDF)
  
  

Map of the Month

The map of the month shows the weekday transit service frequency within the Bay Area urban footprint. The transit service frequency was generated based on the rail, ferry and bus service data in MTC's regional transit database (RTD). Headway information for rail, ferry and bus routes was assigned to relevant transit stops and stations. These point data were then interpolated to the frequency of service displayed in the map. As you can see, the region’s most frequent transit service is overwhelmingly concentrated in our three largest cities: San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland.

• Transit Service Frequency (PDF)

MTC Operational Statistics

The monthly report on the performance of MTC’s operating programs:

• MTC Operational Statistics (PDF)

Upcoming Events

February 1 — Policy Advisory Committee Recruitment Deadline

February 1-2 — Bay Area Council Advocacy Visits, Washington DC

February 3 — EERI Annual Meeting, San Francisco