Executive Director's Report

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEVE HEMINGER’S REPORT TO THE
COMMISSION MEETING OF NOVEMBER 26, 2008

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

Rail-Volution Conference
San Francisco, October 27-29

Together with several local public and private partners, MTC hosted this annual conference devoted to transit-oriented development and other livable community strategies. Thanks especially to the many commissioners and staff who helped make this event such a success.

AMPO Annual Meeting, Seattle
October 28-31

I participated in the annual meeting of the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO) in two capacities: I attended a regular board of directors meeting and I joined my colleague Tom Skancke in presenting the findings of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission.

Election Results
November 4

The major transportation news from the presidential election results is the continued support from state and local voters for tax and fee measures to rebuild the nation’s aging infrastructure. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, voters in 25 states passed measures totaling over $120 billion for a wide range of infrastructure projects, with most of the measures focusing on transportation and school funding.

Here in California, the big statewide news was passage of the $10 billion high speed rail bond, which sets the stage for pursuit of federal and private funding to complement this down payment on construction of fast train service connecting the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley, and the Los Angeles region. In our region, ballot measures supporting BART to Silicon Valley, the SMART train in the North Bay, and additional operating support for AC Transit all passed by the required 2/3 vote.

California Transit Conference
Monterey, November 5

I spent the day after the election at this statewide conference of public transit officials participating in a panel discussion on the next federal surface transportation bill, which will be taken up by Congress in 2009.

MTC Wins Climate Award
San Francisco, November 6

Senior Planner James Corless was on hand to receive a “Climate All Star” award for the Commission’s work in developing the Transportation 2035 Plan at a gala event sponsored by the Climate Protection Campaign.

Governor Proposes More Transit Cuts
Sacramento, November 6

In calling the state Legislature into special session to discuss the latest $11 billion state budget shortfall, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed an additional $230 million cut to the State Transit Assistance (STA) program in the current budget year and a complete repeal of the program beginning in FY 2009-10. The governor’s proposal effectively undermines the voter-approved protections of Proposition 42, and comes on the heels of $4 billion in transit funding diversions in the past three years alone to bailout the beleaguered state General Fund.

Bay Area Partnership
Oakland, November 10

The agenda for the bi-monthly meeting of the Partnership was dominated by discussion of the Transportation 2035 Plan, as it has been for the past several meetings.

Building Forward Conference
San Francisco, November 13

This event exploring the implications of Senate Bill 375 (Steinberg) was sponsored by the Home Builders of Northern California and numerous other business organizations. I joined a panel discussion with colleagues from ABAG, the California Air Resources Board, Federal Highway Administration, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

ITS World Congress
New York, November 17-20

Several commissioners and MTC/BATA staff attended this annual meeting of public and private professionals implementing intelligent transportation systems (ITS) worldwide. While in New York, a number of us joined Brian Mayhew’s financing team in briefing the three major rating agencies on the status of the Bay Area Toll Authority’s construction and financing activities. At the ITS event, Ann Flemer was elected vice chair of the board of directors of ITS America, putting her in line to become chairperson of this national advocacy organization in 2010.

Map of the Month

The map of the month shows support for Proposition 1A, the Safe, Reliable, High-Speed Train Bond Act which passed with a 53% majority vote. This is a contiguous cartogram showing the total votes and the margin of votes for or against the proposition in the November, 2008 General Election by county. A contiguous cartogram is a transformation of a map where the original county areas are expanded or contracted to represent the total votes. The result is a distortion of the original county areas that maintains the relative position of the counties. More voters in the green counties supported Proposition 1A and, conversely, more voters in the orange/red counties opposed the proposition.

• Proposition 1A Support (PDF)
  

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

• MTC Operational Statistics (PDF)
  
  

Upcoming Events

December 1 — TransLink Management Group Workshop, San Francisco
December 2-15 — AASHTO Delegation Visit to India