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Executive Director's Report

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STEVE HEMINGER’S REPORT TO THE
COMMISSION MEETING OF JULY 27, 2011

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

Commonwealth Club Panel
San Francisco, June 24

I joined colleagues from the Mineta Transportation Institute Board of Trustees and other transportation stakeholders in a panel discussion about the future of the federal surface transportation program hosted by the Commonwealth Club.

Steel Fabrication Completion Ceremony
Shanghai, July 11

Vice Chair Worth, Commissioner Dodd, Andy Fremier and I joined representatives of Caltrans, the California Transportation Commission, our prime contractor American Bridge/Fluor, and officials of our steel supplier ZPMC in a ceremony marking the completion of major steel fabrication activities for the self-anchored suspension (SAS) element of the new Bay Bridge east span. The ship with the final four deck sections of the SAS is due to sail by the end of the month.

Bulger Joins Metro Board
Washington, DC, July 21

Our long-time Washington representative Tom Bulger was sworn in as the newest alternate member of the board of directors for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, known in the nation’s capital as Metro. Congratulations to Tom on this signal honor.

Washington Update

There have been numerous developments in Washington DC on a potential new authorization of the federal surface transportation program. The latest extension of current law is due to expire on September 30th. Both the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee have produced outlines of their proposed legislation. While there are some areas of agreement, the principal discrepancy between the two outlines is that the House approach would lock in for six years the reduced funding levels that can be supported by the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), while the Senate approach would be a two-year authorization at current baseline funding levels that depends upon an infusion of $12 billion in additional revenue to be identified by the Senate Finance Committee.

The House outline is a Republican document and does not reflect a bipartisan consensus on the committee about how to move forward. The level of divisiveness that the proposal has generated is well reflected in a blistering letter from committee chairman John Mica to a usual ally, U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue, whose organization had questioned the lower funding levels being proposed. By contrast, the Senate proposal does reflect an agreement by the chairmen and ranking members of both the full committee and the highway subcommittee. The committee approach of funding supplemental resources for the HTF also was echoed last week in the bipartisan “Gang of Six” deficit reduction proposal, which includes language about tax reform generating an additional $133 billion by 2021 to ensure the solvency of the highway fund.

Factoid of the Month

While reading Harvard University professor Edward Glaeser’s recent book, Triumph of the City, I gleaned the following factoid. In 2008, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) generated slightly more environmental impact reviews in our state than were produced in the other 49 states combined under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in the same year. That’s a lot of red tape for the Golden State.

Map of the Month

The map of the month shows the amount of combined federal, state and other taxes charged for gasoline sales nationwide. As of May 2011, Connecticut has the highest gasoline tax at 70.3 cents per gallon. California has the fourth highest gasoline tax in the country at 68.9 cents per gallon. Alaska has the lowest tax at 26.4 cents per gallon. The data for the map of the month is compiled by the American Petroleum Institute on a quarterly basis.


MTC Operational Statistics

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


Upcoming Events

August 31 — Asilomar Conference on Climate Change, Monterey

Executive Director's Previous Reports