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Executive Director's Report

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEVE HEMINGER’S REPORT TO THE
COMMISSION MEETING OF FEBRUARY 24, 2010

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

Obama Announces High Speed Rail Grants

Tampa FL, January 28

President Obama announced the award of $8 billion in grants for high speed rail projects throughout the nation funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). California received a total of $2.3 billion in grants, the highest amount of any state. The California High Speed Rail Authority is slated to receive $2.2 billion for its statewide system from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim, with $400 million of that amount reserved for construction of the “train box” at the new Transbay Terminal. An additional $95 million of ARRA funds was awarded to intercity rail projects in our state, including $23 million for the Capitols service connecting Sacramento to the Bay Area. (See story.)

League of Women Voters Conference

Oakland, January 30

I joined Commissioner Bates and Jack Broadbent of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in addressing this conference in our auditorium about the implementation of SB 375 (Steinberg).

Bay Area Council Advocacy Visits

Washington DC, February 1-2

I traveled to the nation’s capital with this business-sponsored group to meet with members of the Bay Area congressional delegation and other key legislators about transportation and infrastructure issues.

First Lift of SAS Deck Section

Oakland, February 3

The first of 28 steel deck sections for the self-anchored suspension (SAS) portion of the new Bay Bridge east span was lifted into place by the “Left Coast Lifter” barge crane. This should turn into a regular occurrence throughout the year, as a new ship is scheduled to arrive from Shanghai every other month with several
deck sections aboard each boat. The first sections of the massive steel suspension tower are slated to ship in May. (See story.)

EERI Conference

San Francisco, February 4

I addressed the annual meeting of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute about the importance of the toll bridge seismic retrofit program.

FTA Rejects OAC Funding

Washington DC, February 12

Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff has rejected BART’s Title VI corrective action plan, which overturns plans to help fund the Oakland Airport Connector project with $70 million in ARRA funds. Pursuant to MTC Resolution No. 3942 adopted by the Commission at your January meeting, we are now working with FTA to award the ARRA funds instead to the Tier 2 list of back-up projects sponsored by the various Bay Area transit operators. We face a March 5, 2010 statutory deadline to secure the funds for those projects. Meanwhile, BART still faces the task of coming into compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

LaHood Announces TIGER Grants

Washington DC, February 17

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has announced the award of $1.5 billion in so-called TIGER discretionary grants to over 50 projects. I am pleased to report that two of the four California projects receiving funds are in the Bay Area: $46 million for the Doyle Drive replacement project and $30 million for the Green Trade Corridor/Marine Highway project co-sponsored by the Ports of Oakland, Stockton, and Sacramento. This multi-modal program appears to be playing out as advertised, with freight/port projects and transit improvements each receiving about one-third of the total funding, road projects receiving 20%, and bike/pedestrian and other improvements receiving the remainder of funding. (See story.)

DOT “Listening Tour”

Los Angeles, February 19

At a surface transportation authorization outreach event hosted by Secretary LaHood and Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Barbara Boxer, I testified on the importance of making a “new beginning” in federal policy as recommended by the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission. I was joined on my panel of witnesses by Caltrans Director Randy Iwasaki, Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols, and Mayor Curt Pringle, Chair of the California High Speed Rail Authority.

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 92% of these federal economic stimulus funds, while 70% of the money has been put to work creating jobs in awarded contracts. The change this month is the elimination of the Oakland Airport Connector and addition of an equal amount of transit rehabilitation projects. These projects are currently in process for FTA grant approval.

Map of the Month

The map of the month shows the total owner-occupied foreclosures within the Bay Area by census tract between July 2008 and June 2009. Foreclosure types considered for this analysis include lender owned and third-party owned foreclosures as well as foreclosed properties ready for auction. Contra Costa and Solano counties showed the highest foreclosure rates in the Bay Area during the first half of 2009 with up to 170 foreclosures per tract.


MTC Operational Statistics

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


Upcoming Events

February 26 — SB 375 Workshop, San Diego

March 4-5 — CFEE Infrastructure Conference, Napa

March 15-17 — APTA Legislative Conference, Washington DC

March 15-19 — Bipartisan Policy Center, Bellagio, Italy

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