OAKLAND, Calif., March 18, 2002...The federal government officially lifted its eight-week-old freeze on funding for Bay Area transportation projects today when the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)'s finding that the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area will help the region attain federal air quality standards (see text of FHWA/FTA letter). This puts the nine-county region in conformity with all transportation-related federal air quality requirements. The Bay Area fell into a temporary air quality conformity lapse when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) missed a Jan. 21 deadline for approval of the motor vehicle emissions budget element of the Bay Area 2001 Ozone Attainment Plan, which is required for MTC to conform the Regional Transportation Plan and an associated list of projects known as the 2001 Federal Transportation Improvement Program.

The EPA published its approval of the motor vehicle emissions budget portion of the Ozone Attainment Plan in the Federal Register on Feb. 21, 2002, and its finding became effective on March 8. MTC adopted the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan and the TIP on March 15.

Today's action by the FHWA and the FTA allows the resumption of federal funding for more than 50 projects valued at over $780 million that were delayed by the freeze on federal funding. A substantially larger amount of transportation funding would have been affected if the funding freeze lasted beyond April.

The federal action today also clears the way for future projects included in the Bay Area's long-range transportation plan. The 2001 Regional Transportation Plan specifies how some $87.4 billion (2001 dollars) of anticipated federal, state and local transportation funds will be spent in the nine-county Bay Area during the next 25 years. Of this total, more than 70 percent ($65 billion) is devoted to maintaining and operating the region's existing road, highway and transit network. The remaining 30 percent ($22.4 billion) provides for new projects or system expansion. Roughly 77 percent of the total funding will go to public transit, a percentage exceeding that of any metropolitan area in the U.S.

Publication of the final 2001 Regional Transportation Plan is scheduled for this Summer. Copies of the final version of the plan will be available on request from the MTC/ABAG Library (phone 510.817.5836 or fax 510.817.5932) or email <library@mtc.ca.gov>. The plan also will be posted on the MTC Web site: <www.mtc.ca.gov>.

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

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See March 15, 2002 News Release: Air Quality Conformity Clears Way for New Transportation Plan

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