Executive Director's Report

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEVE HEMINGER’S REPORT TO THE
COMMISSION MEETING OF JUNE 25, 2008

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

IBTTA Board of Directors
Philadelphia, May 29 – 31

I attended the regular board of directors meeting of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA).

Tranny Awards
Sacramento, June 4

Commissioner Spering was on hand to receive multiple Tranny Awards for MTC at the annual luncheon of the California Transportation Foundation. The new Benicia-Martinez Bridge was named “project of the year” and we shared top honors for two other projects: the public outreach effort surrounding the MacArthur Maze collapse and the new transit information kiosk at the Embarcadero BART station.

CTC Workshop
Sacramento, June 4

At a workshop of the California Transportation Commission, I presented the findings and recommendations of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission.

Planning Committee TOD Tour
Portland, Oregon, June 5 – 6

Commissioners Bates, Chu, Lempert, Kinsey, Spering, Worth, and Yeager joined MTC, ABAG and JPC staff in a visit to Portland, Oregon, to learn about their regional approach to transit-oriented development (TOD). The Commissioners received briefings from the MPO, transit agency and city staff on the Portland region’s active role in financing and promoting TOD. Commissioner Spering is working with MTC and ABAG staff to translate lessons learned from this trip in order to strengthen our ongoing TOD efforts and the implementation of the FOCUS program.

Bipartisan Policy Center
Washington DC, June 6

I participated in a roundtable discussion of both public and private officials from major U.S. metropolitan areas about the future of federal surface transportation policy.

MCAC Dinner
Oakland, June 10

Commissioners Azumbrado, Giacopini, Spering, and Worth joined senior MTC staff at the annual dinner with members of our Minority Citizens Advisory Committee.

New 511 Transit Website and Trip Planner

The new 511 Transit website, which includes new trip planning software and other design improvements, has a planned launch date of July 7th. This new site has been available as a beta test site since May 12th. With the July rollout, the new site will incorporate other features beyond those shown on the beta site, and will serve as the primary 511 Transit website.

U.S. Metro Economies Report

Last week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released an updated version of their U.S. Metro Economies report. The report ranks the gross economic products of major metropolitan areas and compares them to the economic outputs of U.S. states and other nations. In the metro rankings, the San Francisco Bay Area has the fourth largest “gross metropolitan product” in the nation at nearly $460 billion in 2007. In the comparative rankings, our regional economy is larger than all but eight U.S. states and all but 17 nations around the world.

Map of the Month

According to the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, some of the largest metropolitan areas had among the lowest carbon emissions per capita from transportation and residential energy use in 2005. However, metropolitan carbon footprints vary widely, based on determining factors such as population density, the availability of public transit, the carbon intensity of electricity generation, the price of electricity and the weather, as shown on the map.

• Carbon Emissions per Capita in 2005 (PDF)
  

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

• MTC Operational Statistics (PDF)
  

Upcoming Events

June 25 – 26 — Metro/ULI Conference, Portland

June 30 – July 4 — Brookings Institution Rail Tour, Germany

July 10 — Gateway Park Visioning Workshop, Oakland