Press Releases

For Immediate Release

New Guidebook Demystifies Transportation Funding

MTC Publication

CONTACT:

Marjorie Blackwell
510.464.7884

Ellen Griffin
510.817.5854

OAKLAND, Calif., March 1, 1999. . . While the lingo of traffic reporters (i.e. "backup in the Caldecott," "metering lights on") may be common parlance in the Bay Area, the complex jargon of transportation financing is foreign to most.

Now, a new guidebook, published by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), explains in clear, simple terms where money for transportation projects comes from and how it is spent. Titled Moving Costs: A Transportation Funding Guide for the San Francisco Bay Area, the book provides a summary of dozens of federal, state and local transportation funds, how the money from each fund can be spent, and who decides who gets what.

Obscure-sounding terms such as "flexible funding," "county minimums" and "Regional Measure One" and acronyms such as "STIP" and "SHOPP" are among the important transportation buzz words explained in the book.

"We want to demystify the jargon and make transportation finance as easy as possible to understand," says Ellen Griffin, MTC legislative analyst and author of Moving Costs. "After all, the public pays nearly $4 billion a year in state, local and federal taxes, tolls and other fees for the Bay Area's transportation system. People should know how their money is being spent.

"We hope the guidebook will be particularly useful to citizens who want to be involved in transportation funding decisions, from those made by their local governments on up to decisions made in Washington, D.C.," Griffin added.

To request a free copy of Moving Costs or other MTC publications, contact the MTC library by e-mail: library@mtc.ca.gov, by fax: 510.817.5932; phone 510.817.5836; or visit the MTC offices at 101 Eighth Street, Oakland. Moving Costs and other publications are also on the MTC website.

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

 

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