Press Releases

Public Invited to Weigh in on
Proposed Transportation Improvements

Contact:

Randy Rentschler 510.817.5780

Catalina Alvarado 510.817.5783

OAKLAND, Calif., June 5, 2006 . . . The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) will hold a public hearing June 14, 2006, to solicit comments on the Draft 2007 Transportation Improvement Program(TIP), which lists projects and transportation investments planned for the next four years. MTC also will take comment on an evaluation of the air quality impacts of the proposed transportation projects, found in the Draft Air Quality Conformity Analysis for the Draft 2007 TIP. The hearing will be held in the Dahms Auditorium in the Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter at 101 Eighth Street in Oakland, at 10 a.m., in conjunction with MTC’s Programming and Allocations Committee, or immediately following MTC’s Administration Committee meeting, whichever occurs later.

The Draft 2007 TIP is a near-term transportation spending plan proposed for the nine Bay Area counties. Some 950 local street and road projects, highway improvements, public transit investments and bicycle and pedestrian investments are proposed for funding based on anticipated federal, state and local revenues during the four-year period from fiscal year 2006-07 through fiscal year 2009-10. The committed revenues amount to approximately $12.7 billion, which, in addition to funding specific projects, also would pay for certain programs such as state highway maintenance.

The projects listed in the Draft 2007 TIP reflect transportation priorities contained in MTC’s Transportation 2030 Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area, a 25-year policy and spending blueprint that guides all MTC programming decisions. The Transportation 2030 Plan, adopted by the Commission in February 2005 after an exhaustive public involvement effort, dedicates 80 percent of expected funds to maintaining the region’s current transportation network; 16 percent is earmarked for strategic expansion projects; and the remaining 4 percent is dedicated to projects and programs that improve efficiency of the transportation system.

The Draft 2007 TIP, which represents a four-year slice of the 25-year 2030 Plan, directs about 48 percent of the expected funding to maintenance, 15 percent to system efficiency, and some 38 percent to strategic expansion. The maintenance category includes rehabilitation and replacement of transit vehicles and facilities as well as the upkeep of freeways and local roadways. The maintenance percentage in the TIP is lower than the 2030 Plan due to variances over the 25-year timeframe, and because local gas tax revenues used for street repairs do not have to be included in the federally-required TIP.

The Draft 2007 TIP and its project listings, along with a map for some projects, may be viewed online on the MTC Web site, at www.mtc.ca.gov/funding/tip/. Printed copies of the document may be viewed at the MTC Library in Oakland, at 101 Eighth Street, and at major public libraries in the Bay Area.

Adoption of the Draft TIP must be accompanied by an evaluation of the proposed projects to ensure protection of regional air quality. The Air Quality Conformity Analysis for the Draft 2007 TIP also provides the implementation status of five Transportation Control Measures, strategies to reduce driving or smooth traffic flows in order to cut auto emissions in the region.

Comments on the Draft 2007 TIP, and its accompanying air quality analysis, will be taken at the June 14 public hearing, and also can be submitted to MTC offices through Friday, June 30, 2006. Send comments by mail to MTC, 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, CA 94607; fax to 510.817.5848 or send via e-mail to info@mtc.ca.gov. All comments should be addressed to the attention of Public Information. For further information, call MTC’s Public Information Office at 510.817.5757.

At its July 12, 2006 regularly scheduled meeting, MTC’s Programming and Allocations Committee will consider public comments received by the end of the public comment period. MTC is scheduled to approve the air quality conformity analysis and the Draft 2007 TIP on July 26, 2006, during its regularly scheduled Commission meeting. Once adopted by the Commission, the document will be forwarded to Caltrans, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration for approval and inclusion in the Federal State Transportation Improvement Program.

MTC is the transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

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