Press Releases

CONTACT:

Réka Goode
510.464.7706

Marjorie Blackwell
510.464.7884

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 22, 1999 . . . The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has just released two new publications: one of particular interest to public transit riders, the other aimed at those who want to know more about MTC – the nine-county region's transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency. Each guide is free, and copies may be requested via e-mail:<library@mtc.ca.gov>, fax: 510.817.5932, or phone message: 510.817.5836.

MTC's popular regional transit guide has been reissued in a completely new format from its earlier nine editions, reduced in size as well as price. Now a free, pocket-sized pamphlet titled Getting There on Transit, the guide packs in much of the same information as its book-sized predecessors, showing bus, rail and ferry service up and down the Bay Area.

The 22-page brochure includes more than a dozen full color maps – with close-ups of downtown areas – along with transit routes to hundreds of popular destinations, including the region's three international airports. For elderly and disabled travelers, there's a directory of wheelchair accessible van and special taxi services.

In addition to contact information for 35 transit operators large and small, more than three dozen other useful phone numbers are listed.

"This publication is an important part of our efforts to improve the dissemination of transit information," said Ann Flemer, MTC manager of Transit Coordination and Access. "MTC's TravInfo™, the area-code-free telephone number (817-1717), connects callers to transit operators throughout the region, and our transit information Web site (www.transitinfo.org) gives instant online access to routes and schedules for Bay Area transit operators as well as interregional services."

MTC's second new publication – also free – is an update of its Citizens' Guide to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. This compact, 32-page booklet retains the format and much of the content of its three earlier editions – from an overview of MTC's principal activities to demographic highlights and an introduction to transportation finance.

For the citizen who wants to get involved, the guide provides a step-by-step introduction to the decision-making process, a list of key MTC committees and when they meet, and a transportation glossary.

In addition to information about MTC proper, the publication describes the agency's two other offshoots – the Bay Area Toll Authority, or BATA, and the Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways, or SAFE. In operation since January 1998, BATA manages the revenues collected on the seven state-owned Bay Area toll bridges (except the $1 seismic surcharge) and oversees major bridge rehabilitation and congestion-relief projects financed by the tolls. SAFE administers the network of roadside motorist-aid call boxes along 1,100 miles of the region's roads, and the Freeway Service Patrol, a fleet of roving tow trucks that help to keep traffic moving on the most congested Bay Area freeways.

# # #

Previous | Contents | Next