Press Releases

For Immediate Release

MTC to Award $403 Million in Federal Funding

Includes $18 Million for "Transportation for Livable Communities"

CONTACTS:

Brenda Kahn, Public Information
510.817.5773

Lizzie Kemp, Funding & External Affairs
510.464.7804

OAKLAND, Calif., April 25, 2000 . . . The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is set to approve a $403 million package of road, transit, bike and pedestrian projects to benefit from federal funding over the next three years. The Commission will vote on the package at its regular monthly meeting, which begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 26, in the MetroCenter Auditorium, 101 Eighth Street in Oakland.

The money will flow to the Bay Area from the 1998 federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21). As part of Wednesday's action, MTC will vote on distributing $18 million in capital money to enhance transportation access in the vicinity of 19 community development/neighborhood revitalization efforts. MTC set aside these TEA 21 funds for its Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) Program in the late 1990s. "While relatively small in scale and cost, the TLC projects can go a long way toward making a transit station more inviting, or making it possible to walk or ride your bike between a rail station and your home or job," said MTC Deputy Executive Director Steve Heminger. Measures to calm traffic on local streets are also part of the list.

The bulk of the money to be distributed on Wednesday represents the second cycle of flexible funding flowing to the region from TEA 21 — specifically from the bill's Surface Transportation Program (STP) and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program. These funding programs will generate $314 million for the region from the 2000–01 fiscal year through the 2002–03 fiscal year. The moneys are earmarked for maintenance and rehabilitation projects as well as for "corridor management" projects that improve the operational efficiency of the existing transportation network — everything from retiming traffic signals to providing more parking spaces at BART stations.

Also on the table for distribution is revenue-aligned budget authority (or RABA) dividend money, generated by a surplus in federal gas tax receipts (beyond what was originally expected when TEA 21 passed). MTC is proposing to focus the Bay Area's $71 million in RABA dividends on a few significant regional priorities that would otherwise remain unfunded, including $26 million to help complete the seismic retrofit of the Golden Gate Bridge.

A detailed list of the TLC projects up for consideration is available on MTC's Web site at <www.mtc.ca.gov>. MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

# # #

Previous | Contents | Next