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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

January 2002

Buses and Trains Take Center Stage in New Plan

View this map in PDF What happens if you add 1876 to 3434? In MTC math, you get a multibillion dollar investment package to expand the region's express bus and rail networks.

As part of the 2001 Regional Transportation Plan deliberations, MTC adopted Resolution 3434, which calls for a nearly $11 billion investment in major new bus and rail transit projects. The package was conceived as the successor to Resolution 1876, MTC's 1988 regional rail expansion agreement. The earlier investment plan landed almost $1 billion in federal "New Starts" grants and delivered two BART extensions in the East Bay (to Pittsburg/Bay Point and Dublin/Pleasanton), the Tasman light-rail line in Santa Clara County, and the BART extension to San Francisco International Airport (nearing completion).

"Now that we've developed a regional consensus on a new generation of major transit expansions for the Bay Area, we can make a strong case in Washington for the next round of discretionary capital grants," said Therese McMillan, MTC's deputy director for policy.

While much of the attention in recent weeks has focused on the agreement to bring BART to San Jose and Santa Clara, Resolution 3434 includes a wide range of rail projects in every corner of the Bay Area (see map and list).

The express bus component envisions a fleet of state-of-the-art coaches plying the region's network of diamond lanes. "This is a highly efficient form of transport that can be deployed relatively rapidly, at a fraction of the cost of laying rails," said McMillan.

Nearly 20 freeway corridors are targeted for new or expanded express bus service. In addition, the urbanized East Bay will see enhanced rapid bus service along some of the most crowded arterials.

The Resolution 3434 package will improve mobility and boost connectivity by adding some 140 new route miles of rail service and 600 route miles of express bus services in the region over the next 25 years. Together, the projects are expected to attract more than 38 million new riders per year.
--John Goodwin & Brenda Kahn

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