Executive Director's Report

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEVE HEMINGER’S REPORT TO THE
COMMISSION MEETING OF MAY 26, 2010

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

Executive Comings & Goings
May 3 & 6

The month of May featured announcements of changing leadership at two of our important partner agencies. Here in Oakland, Henry Gardner submitted his resignation as executive director of the Association of Bay Area Governments effective in August 2010. And in Sacramento, the California High Speed Rail Authority announced the hiring of Roelof van Ark, a senior executive with the rail car manufacturer Alstom, as the Authority’s next CEO.

SLVG Advocacy Visits
Washington DC, May 4-5

I joined executives from the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) on a recent trip to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress about issues of importance to the region such as infrastructure investment and climate change legislation.

UCLA Speaking Series
Sacramento, May 6

I spoke about my experiences serving on the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission before an audience of state legislative and administration staff. I was joined by Susan Binder, who served as the executive director of the commission.

Transit Sustainability Project
Oakland, May 14

At a joint meeting of the MTC Select Committee on Transit Sustainability and the project’s CEO-level steering committee, we officially commenced the work of the Transit Sustainability Project to attempt to develop a more stable financial and institutional footing for public transit in the Bay Area. This two-year long, multi-stakeholder effort is a major undertaking for our agency, and we look forward to the continued engagement of the Select Committee and the entire commission. For further information as the work progresses, please contact project manager Carolyn Clevenger.

BATA Investor Meetings
London, May 17-21

Chair Haggerty and CFO Brian Mayhew joined me in this week-long trip to the United Kingdom where we met with a series of potential international investors in BATA’s forthcoming $3.5 billion debt issuance, much of it expected to be in taxable Build America Bonds. We are hopeful that significant international interest, coupled with strong domestic demand, will lead to the lowest possible pricing of the bonds when we go to market in late June.

RTAC Meeting
Sacramento, May 25

After a hiatus of several months, the Regional Targets Advisory Committee (RTAC) met again in Sacramento yesterday to review the work completed by the state’s four largest metropolitan planning organizations on possible scenarios for meeting the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets required by Senate Bill 375. As a reminder, the California Air Resources Board is scheduled to release draft targets in June and is required to adopt final targets by September 2010.

Map of the Month

The map of the month shows recession-related changes in frequency, or “headways”, for daily bus, rail and ferry service between 2006 and 2009. The blue areas indicate service reductions (headways decreased) and the red areas indicate service additions (headways increased). While the map certainly has too much blue reflecting longer headways and waiting times for transit patrons, it is noteworthy how many red areas show improved service during this economic recessionary period. However, 2010 has been a very tough year financially for transit operations so we expect more service reductions than shown on the map.

• Change in Transit Service Frequency 2006 – 2009 (PDF)

MTC Operational Statistics

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

• MTC Operational Statistics (PDF)

Upcoming Events

June 16 — Clipper Card Launch Event, San Francisco