Press Releases

Bay Area Roads and Transit to Get Facelift (And Communities to Get a Little "TLC")

CONTACT:

Steve Heminger
510/817-5810

Joe Curley
510.817.5847

Oakland, Calif., May 26, 1999 . . . The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) approved nearly $1.3 billion in federal funds for transportation projects in the Bay Area today, largely to rehabilitate transit facilities and streets and roads throughout the region over the next several years.

A portion of the federal money -- $9 million -- also will be used to award the first round of capital grants under MTC's fledgling "Transportation for Livable Communities" (TLC) program, which aims to foster better linkages between transportation and land use in the region. In addition, projects to improve or better manage the region's transportation network -- from expanded commuter information and assistance programs to retiming of traffic signals -- are slated for funding. The funding package is an amendment to the federally required Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the Bay Area.

Of the $1.26 billion in total funds, $1.1 billion, or 87 percent, will go to repair, replace or renew elements of the region's existing transportation infrastructure. These federal dollars will be used (often in combination with local matching funds) to purchase new buses and railcars, refurbish transit maintenance facilities, fix storm-damaged streets, and repave roadways. "With this funding action, the Commission is following through on the pledge made in the 1998 Regional Transportation Plan to give first priority to the maintenance and operation of the Bay Area's existing transportation system," said MTC Executive Director Lawrence D. Dahms. "Even as we struggle to accommodate the increasing demands placed upon it, we cannot overlook our obligation to sustain the system that is already in place."

The $9 million being directed by the Commission to its Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) program will fund innovative projects that attempt to better integrate transportation and community-based development. The program's first round of capital grants, which range in size from $230,000 to $1.7 million, will be awarded to 15 projects around the Bay Area. Projects receiving grants include the following:

• the 16th Street BART Community Design Plan, to be awarded $1,697,500 for the final design and reconstruction of the San Francisco BART station's southwest plaza -- a project intended to encourage pedestrian-oriented development in the area;
• the Acorn-Prescott Neighborhood Transportation Plan, which will receive $1,074,525 for streetscape improvements along 8th Street between Mandela Parkway and Market Street in West Oakland; and
• the Sunnyvale Multimodal Transit Station project, recipient of $861,245 to help develop a plaza-like pedestrian connection between the Caltrain station and an adjacent parking area.

"Small-scale investments such as these can bring a new vibrancy to downtown areas, commercial cores and neighborhoods," said MTC's Dahms. "With the TLC program, we hope to enhance the livability of existing communities throughout the region."

Programs and projects to better manage the Bay Area's transportation system also will receive new funding. "Customer service" programs such as the Freeway Service Patrol, the motorist-aid tow-truck service that operates on the region's most heavily traveled freeways; TravInfo, the telephone (817-1717) traveler-information system; and other regional technical and marketing assistance efforts will share $13 million. An additional $42 million will go to fund a range of traffic signal synchronization projects, and assorted improvements to transit, ridesharing and bicycle/pedestrian facilities.

The largest slice of the $1.26 billion pie is reserved for the region's transit operators. Fully 86 percent of the total funding package, or $1.08 billion, will finance the rehabilitation or purchase of buses, railcars and maintenance facilities, as well as special equipment needed to comply with the provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Leading the list of recipients is the San Francisco Municipal Railway, which will receive $349 million of the total. Over half this amount ($182 million) will be used to assist Muni's vehicle replacement program, including allocations to cover the purchase of 128 motor coaches ($45 million), 88 trolley coaches ($44 million), and 31 light-rail vehicles ($93 million).

Other large recipients of funds are BART ($218 million, of which more than $113 million will be used to overhaul and refurbish aging railcars), Caltrain ($171 million, with $87.5 million of that sum to be directed to Caltrain's Rapid Rail Program of system upgrades) and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority ($149 million, for a variety of projects). For a breakdown of federal transit funding by operator, click here.

Roadway funds round out the the financing package, with $159 million slated for repaving, repair of storm damage, intersection improvements and other projects throughout the nine Bay Area counties. "Unfortunately, with a cumulative funding deficit of $5.6 billion for regional street and road maintenance, these dollars represent only a small down payment on a very large need," said MTC's Dahms.

Listings of transit funds by operator can be found here and complete listings of the projects approved by MTC on May 26 can be found here. Expenditure of the federal funds slated for approval is contingent upon required subsequent approvals by the California Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration.

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

# # #

Previous | Contents | Next