Executive Director's Report

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEVE HEMINGER’S REPORT TO THE
COMMISSION MEETING OF DECEMBER 21, 2011

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

BACEI Board of Trustees
Oakland, November 21

I joined a panel discussion on the importance of transportation infrastructure investment at the regular board meeting of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BACEI).

San Diego SCS Sued
November 25

Two environmental groups have filed suit against the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) alleging that SANDAG performed an inadequate environmental review of the State’s first-ever Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS).

HUD Grant Press Event
San Francisco, November 28

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi was the headliner at a press event called to announce the award by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of a $5 million grant to MTC and ABAG for preparation of a Regional Prosperity Plan. Commissioners Campos and Green also spoke at the event, and they were joined by their colleagues Anne Halsted and Scott Wiener.

House Reauthorization Bill Delayed (Again)
Washington DC, November 30

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica confirmed to an audience at a transportation forum that there will be no committee or floor action on a surface transportation bill in the House until at least February 2012. Since the Senate has yet to schedule floor action on Senator Boxer’s reauthorization bill (MAP-21) and the current SAFETEA extension expires at the end of March 2012, it appears we are headed for another stop-gap extension of current law next spring.

Headquarters Audit Entrance Interview
Oakland, December 7

We had our entrance interview with the audit team that will conduct the Bureau of State Audits review of our acquisition of 390 Main Street in San Francisco, as requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee in August. The audit is expected to take several months.

Senate Transportation Committee Hearings on Regionalism
December 8 (San Francisco) and December 13 (Oakland)

The Senate Transportation and Housing Committee chaired by Senator Mark DeSaulnier conducted its second and third hearing on the subject of “regionalism” in early December. Commissioners Bates, Campos, Wiener, and I testified on the subjects of fostering economic development and AB 57 (Beall) at the San Francisco hearing. The third and final hearing in Oakland focused on the subject of public participation in regional decision-making.

CALCOG Meeting
Sacramento, December 13

I attended the regular bi-monthly meeting of the California Council of Governments Association, at which we discussed the subject of federal surface transportation reauthorization at considerable length.

Governor’s Conference on Climate Change
San Francisco, December 15

Together with a few hundred state and local officials, I attended a conference sponsored by Governor Brown about statewide efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Plan Bay Area Public Workshops

Throughout the month of January 2012, MTC and ABAG will be hosting workshops in all nine Bay Area counties to gather input on the various transportation and land use scenarios released for public comment by the Planning Committee earlier this month. I encourage all commissioners to attend the workshop in their jurisdiction. A copy of the workshop schedule can be found at your desks today.

Federal Certification Review

Under federal law, every four years each metropolitan planning organization must be “recertified” by the Federal Highway and Transit Administrations (FHWA and FTA) that our planning process complies with all applicable federal regulations and requirements. MTC’s turn at bat has arrived, and FHWA and FTA will co-host a public listening session on January 10, 2012 where members of the public can convey their views on the subject. The federal agencies will accept written comments until January 31, 2012. Details about how to participate can be found here.

Map of the Month

Our map of the month mixes something old with something new. We dug up a historical map showing the original plans for building and extending BART, circa 1957. Then we superimposed the actual BART system as it stands today, along with new segments that are under construction. You can see that as originally conceived the core BART system (indicated by a solid light blue line) would have extended across the Golden Gate deep into Marin County, as well as traveling down the Peninsula on the West Side of the Bay to Palo Alto. While the Marin and Palo Alto segments never happened, the rest of the BART system conforms fairly well to the original blueprint for the first-stage system.

• BART Vision vs. Reality (PDF)

MTC Operational Statistics

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

• MTC Operational Statistics (PDF)

Upcoming Events

January 23-26 — TRB Annual Meeting, Washington DC