Executive Director's Report

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEVE HEMINGER’S REPORT TO THE
COMMISSION MEETING OF MARCH 25, 2009

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

National Finance Commission Report Released
Washington DC, February 26

The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission (the “other” commission created by SAFETEA) issued its final report entitled Paying Our Way (PDF, 4.3 MB), which contains numerous recommendations for how to fund improvements to the nation’s surface transportation system. Notably, the report echoes two key financing recommendations from the earlier report of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission on which I served: (1) the need to raise the federal gas tax in the near term, and (2) the likely transition to a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fee in the longer term.

AMPO Board of Directors Meeting
Las Vegas, February 26-27

I attended a regular meeting of the Board of Directors for the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (AMPO). Our meeting was hosted by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, which functions as both the MPO and major transit operator for the Las Vegas region.

Private Bond Purchase Completed
Sacramento, February 27

The Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) completed the purchase of an unprecedented $194 million in state general obligation bonds through a “private placement” with the State Treasurer’s Office in order to finance work on 11 highway congestion relief projects that had been stalled due to the inability of the state to sell Proposition 1B bonds on the open market.

Doyle Drive Press Event
San Francisco, February 28

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was joined by numerous dignitaries (including several MTC commissioners) in announcing that the Doyle Drive replacement project is now on track to begin construction later in 2009, thanks to an expedited project delivery strategy developed by Caltrans and the likely receipt of $100 million in federal economic recovery funds. Commissioner Dodd spoke at the press event in support of the prompt completion of this critical seismic safety project.

RTAC Meeting
Sacramento, March 4

In the absence of Chairman Mike McKeever of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, I presided over the second meeting of the Regional Targets Advisory Committee (RTAC) that will advise the California Air Resources Board on the setting of greenhouse gas reduction goals to implement SB 375 (Steinberg).

APTA Legislative Conference
Washington DC, March 9-11

A number of commissioners and senior MTC staff made our annual pilgrimage to Washington DC to lobby the Congress on the importance of a “new beginning” and robust funding levels for the next authorization of the federal surface transportation program. We presented MTC’s 30th annual report to the Bay Area congressional delegation, and hosted U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at our Capitol Hill reception.

High Speed Rail Stakeholders Meeting
Oakland, March 18

As directed by the commission at your February meeting, I hosted a session with the major public agency stakeholders along the alignment of the proposed California high speed rail service from San Jose to San Francisco. We discussed the concept of fashioning a peninsula corridor investment package for state and federal funding that could feature improvements to the Diridon Station in San Jose, the Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco, and electrification and grade separation projects in between those two points. We will be meeting again in a few weeks, and I am hopeful that we can conclude these initial discussions by May.

Chart of the Month

This chart is from recent research by Professor David Hartgen for the Urban Land Institute. It depicts the growth or decline in freeway lane miles per capita from 1995-2005 for the 22 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. As you can see, one-half of those regions saw a decline in freeway capacity per person, including all four major metropolitan areas in California (shown in orange in the chart).

• Lane Miles per Capita, 1995 – 2005 (PDF)

Map of the Month

The map of the month illustrates the dramatic shift in unemployment rates by county for the state of California. California’s unemployment rate was 10.5 percent in February 2009. One year ago, half of California's counties had unemployment rates below 8 percent; in February of this year, there are only four counties with an unemployment rate below 8% (Marin, San Mateo, Mono, and Orange County). The year-over-year change (February 2008 to February 2009) shows a decrease of 605,900 jobs statewide. The nine-county Bay Area unemployment rates are in the lower end of the current range. Santa Clara has the highest rate, 9.9%, and Marin has the lowest rate in the State, 6.8%.

• Unemployment in California (PDF)
  

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

• MTC Operational Statistics (PDF)
  
  

Upcoming Events

April 7 — RTAC Meeting, Sacramento
April 18 — Progress Seminar, Monterey
April 19-21 — IBTTA Board of Directors, San Francisco