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Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Call Box Network Set to Downsize, Go Digital, Improve Access

MTC SAFE Asks for Input on Strategic Plan for Roadside Call Boxes

Contact:

Rod McMillan, MTC SAFE
510/817-3260

Randy Rentschler, MTC SAFE
510/817-5780

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OAKLAND, Calif., May 10, 2002... The boom in personal cell phone use in the Bay Area, where a majority of drivers owns a portable phone, has led to a 50 percent drop in calls made from the region's roadside motorist-aid call boxes over the past five years. A phenomenon being experienced by call box networks throughout the state, this downward trend in calls is triggering the recommendation that one third of the Bay Area's 3,500 call boxes now in service be removed over the next three years.

A draft Five-Year Strategic and Financial Plan for the Bay Area's roadside motorist aid call box network presented today recommends downsizing the system while at the same time making major improvements to the backbone network that remains. These include upgrading the call box cellular system from analog to digital, in keeping with the technological trend in cell service, as well as improving access for hearing impaired and physically challenged motorists.

After all the upgrades have been made, approximately $14 million in moneys generated from the $1 per vehicle registration fee that funds the call box program would be available for enhancing other motorist aid services. This includes expanding the Freeway Service Patrol — the fleet of roving tow trucks that clears accidents and keeps peak-period traffic moving — and adding to the network of closed circuit television cameras that monitors traffic and provides up-to-date congestion information.

Members of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways (SAFE) Operations Committee, who were filled in on the details at their meeting today, are encouraging public input into the plan over the next month. The SAFE Operations Committee will consider the Call Box Strategic Plan at its June 14 meeting and vote whether to send the plan on to the full SAFE for adoption on June 26.

Bay Area residents may view and comment on the draft plan online. Comments also can be submitted via e-mail to llee@mtc.ca.gov or by calling 510.817.5757.

"Our plan would allow the network to continue to fulfill its role as a safety net for motorists while meeting the changing needs of the traveling public," said Sharon Brown, MTC chair.

Launched in 1988, the Bay Area roadside call box network extends throughout the region, covering 1,100 miles of roadway. About 50 percent of the call boxes currently installed along highway shoulders are set at 1/4- to 1/2-mile intervals. By increasing the overall spacing between these call boxes to one mile, maintenance and other costs for the call box system can be reduced.

In certain cases, closer spacing would be retained. For example, denser spacing is needed in tunnels, and in areas where there is a pattern of heavy call box usage. "The downsized network would be in keeping with the size of a system that would be built if a new call box program were being implemented today," said Rod McMillan, MTC manager of Bridge and Highway Operations.

While all of the remaining call boxes would be accessible to wheelchair users, MTC SAFE recognizes that in some cases the increased spacing between call boxes could be a hardship for physically disabled and elderly drivers. With this segment of the population in mind, MTC SAFE will evaluate the feasibility of providing free or low-cost portable phones that could be programmed with a special phone number to report incidents.

MTC is the regional transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county region. The call box network is operated and administered by the MTC SAFE, which is overseen by MTC commissioners.

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