Report to the Commission: May 26, 2021
COVID-Related Activities
A reminder that all Covid-19 related reporting items can be found on our MTC webpage. We provide monthly updates on all related activities, and statistics that are affecting the region.
Draft Plan Bay Area 2050 Released for Public Comment; Draft EIR Slated for Release Next Week
Draft Plan Bay Area 2050, the long-range regional vision for transportation, housing, the economy, and the environment, was released for public comment earlier today after more than three years of analysis and public engagement with tens of thousands of Bay Area residents. The draft plan document, supplemental reports, and near-term implementation plan are available on planbayarea.org, with comments due by July 20th ; the draft environmental impact report is slated for release by the end of next week. Staff will provide a briefing on Draft Plan Bay Area 2050 and its EIR at next month’s committee meetings, kicking off the final round of public engagement in June as well with virtual workshops, hearings, and more. Plan Bay Area 2050 remains on track to be considered for adoption by MTC and ABAG this fall.
American Planning Association Award for PDA program
MTC and ABAG’s Priority Development Area Program has received an “Award of Excellence” from the Northern California chapter of the American Planning Association for work on the City of Oakland Innovative Construction Methods. The project looks at cost- and time-saving construction methods (e.g., 3-D printing, tiny homes on wheels, factory-built housing, and methods that aren’t even under development yet) as a way to address housing affordability.
Clipper
On May 19, Clipper launched on Google Pay and released a mobile app for easier management of Clipper cards on Android phones, following last month's introduction of Clipper on Apple Pay.
Housing Element Webinars
The Housing Technical Assistance program is providing Housing Element webinars. To date, eight webinars have reached more than 900 attendees, averaging around 100 local staff per webinar. Additional webinars are planned and more information is on the Housing Technical Assistance page on the ABAG website.
The Fare Coordination/Integration Study
The Fare Coordination/Integration group is hosting a webinar to engage policymakers on the work that will inform the study’s fare policy recommendations. All board members of each Bay Area transit agency as well as MTC Commissioners are invited to attend the webinar, which will have time dedicated to board member questions. Your participation is encouraged. The webinar is a publicly noticed Brown Act event and is open to the public. The webinar is being held on May 26the at 3:30pm. Register
SWCB Award
The State Wildlife Conservation Board will approve a $640K grant to MTC on May 20 to prepare a Regional Conservation Investment Strategy (RCIS) for the North Bay as part of our effort to address transportation, ecology and sea level rise within the Resilient SR 37 Program.
This RCIS is a collaboration between DPD and SFEP and partner agencies. We’re really excited about this project!
BAHFA Showcase
On Monday, May 24 I welcomed the audience to the webinar “Advancing the 3 P's through the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority,” which Nonprofit Housing of Northern California put on as part of Affordable Housing Month. The panelists included MTC Commissioner Libby Schaaf and ABAG Executive Board President Jesse Arreguin, along with MTC’s Daniel Saver, who shared new innovative initiatives BAHFA is poised to lead in rising to the challenges of our region’s housing crisis.
TransForm Event May 19
I spoke at a TransForm panel on May 19 with Assemblymember David Chiu and speakers from TransForm, the San Francisco Foundation and Urban Habitat. The subject was the deep collaboration necessary to improve transportation in the region, including lessons learned from the CASA process.
Summer Academy
We had 38 students apply for the Bay Area Summer Academy, which is slated to run in July. There are applicants from eight of our nine Bay Area counties, Sonoma being the exception. The application form is still live, and while we are not actively promoting further applications, we had hoped to have at least one student from each county.