Executive Director's Report

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEVE HEMINGER’S REPORT TO THE
COMMISSION MEETING OF FEBRUARY 27, 2008

Bay Bridge Fabrication Tour
Shanghai, January 28-February 1

Chairman Dodd, key Bay Area Toll Authority staff, and I accompanied our partners at Caltrans and the California Transportation Commission on a week-long visit to the fabrication site for the self-anchored suspension (SAS) element of the new east span in Shanghai. We met with officials from our prime contractor, American Bridge/Flour, as well as their sub-contractor ZPMC, which is doing the actual fabrication. ZPMC is the world’s largest manufacturer of container cranes, and their facilities are quite large and impressive. We also held a meeting of the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee at the job site, and discussed several items related to scope, schedule and budget for the east span project.

Doyle Drive Meetings
San Francisco, February 7 & 14

Commissioners Dodd, Kinsey, Rubin and I have attended two sessions hosted by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom with officials from the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, Golden Gate Bridge District and North Bay counties to try to reach consensus on a funding plan for the $1 billion Doyle Drive replacement project. Also hanging in the balance is a $160 million federal Urban Partnership Program (UPP) grant that includes funding for the Doyle Drive project as well as a March 31, 2008 deadline for the authorization of congestion pricing in the Doyle Drive corridor.

Transportation 2035 Discussion Forums
Various locations, February 14, 19 & 20

Thanks to the many commissioners and staff who have participated in our recent discussion forums on the proposed Transportation 2035 vision policies with board members and staff from the nine congestion management agencies. We plan to present the vision policies for Commission approval next month.

Meeting with CARB Chair
Sacramento, February 20

Mike McKeever of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments and I recently met with Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), to discuss CARB’s ongoing efforts to implement AB 32 and its impact on regional transportation planning activities.

Transportation for Tomorrow presentations
Various locations, February 22, 25 & 26

I made presentations on the final report of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission at three different venues this past month: at a forum in San Francisco co-sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the Bay Area Council; at a board meeting of the Orange County Transportation Authority; and at a special joint hearing of the State Senate and Assembly Transportation Committees in Sacramento.

Map of the Month

This map portrays the morning peak period commute shed for major employment centers within the nine county Bay Area. MTC’s analysis of the 2006 employment statistics, as reported by the Employment Development Department (EDD), indicates that there are approximately 1,648,000 employees working in or near a major bay area employment center. These areas represent approximately 47% of the region’s total employment. Within this morning peak period commute shed, there are approximately 5.6 million people that live within 15 minutes driving time of one of the 38 major employment centers. There are an additional 644,000 that live within 30 minutes of an employment center, and another 458,000 live within the 30-60 minute commute shed.

• Drive Time to nearest Employment Center (PDF)

 

MTC Operational Statistics

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

• MTC Operational Statistics (PDF)

 

Upcoming Events

February 29 — Bay Area Partnership, Oakland

March 5 — Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee, San Francisco

March 9-12 — APTA Legislative Conference, Washington DC

March 17-20 — High Speed Rail World Congress, Amsterdam